Changed
by penguino3782
Summary: There's a reason why you don't come out in the Southside. You pay a price and Ian did, a big one. Now everything has changed. The Gallagher's perspective after a life changing incident and the evolving relationship of Ian and Mickey.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless**

**A/N: I got the idea for this after rewatching the second season episode of Shameless where Monica takes Ian to the gay bar, telling him not to come out at school or someone in their neighborhood would stab him. What if it came out that Ian was gay? It didn't happen in school and he wasn't stabbed but something else happened…..this is the end result.**

**Changed**

Lip looks up from watching his brothers playing on the floor when he hears someone walking into the house. Both Liam and Ian are still so engrossed in their playing that neither acknowledges the intrusion. Either that or in Ian's case, he didn't hear it. It's not known whether or not Ian will be able to regain his hearing in his damaged ear. The hearing loss is clearly evident. But the stubborn teenager refuses to wear the hearing aid so he doesn't hear the ex-con come in.

Lip isn't surprised in the least when he sees its Mickey in the doorway. He's always over their house nowadays. "Ian? You here?" Mickey asks as he bounces on the balls of his feet. Lip can't help but smirk for Mickey asks the same thing every time he comes over. He knows damn well Ian is there. Hell, Ian almost never leaves the house now. Working at the Kash n' Grab is not an option. He's always nervous that he might have a seizure in public even though he, Mickey, Mandy and the rest of their family reassured him that there will be hell to pay if anyone fucks with him.

Lip nods to Mickey as Ian remains oblivious to presence of his boyfriend as Mickey walks further into the living room. Mickey nods his head as he walks into the house taking in the sounds of Liam's baby talk and Ian's stuttering voice as a television show about sharks plays.

"Sharks?" Mickey asks slightly louder than he usually speaks. Ian's face turns when he hears Mickey's voice. "Yo, Gallagher! I didn't beat the shit out of the Mackey brothers to get you the cash for that damn hearing aide for you not to wear it."

"M-m-ick," Ian greets with him with a smile.

"Gallagher," Mickey says as he takes a seat on the couch. Lip can see Mickey's biting his lip as he's watching the redhead get up unsteadily from the floor to sit on the couch. He knows the inner turmoil that is running through the ex-con. He experiences too. Watching Ian struggle to do something as simple as walking a couple of feet when every fiber in him wants to lend a helping hand. But, they know better. Ian wants to do it himself. He needs to do it himself. And as heartbreaking as it is to see him struggle they can't help but be proud of him because it's with the same tenacity that helped him get out of that hospital bed and back home in just a couple of months after what the doctors deemed a "catastrophic brain injury."

When Ian is all settled on the couch, Lip asks. "You guys wanna drink?"

"A beer would be good," Mickey replies.

Ian doesn't even bother answering because he knows that beer is not an option. Not with all the meds he's on. Meds for the seizures. Meds for the chronic headaches that still plague him. Meds for his lungs because the fuckers really messed them up when they punctured his lung. More meds for anxiety because incapacitating anxiety is a common side effect of having permanent brain damage.

At least one thing that they don't have to worry about is Ian's prescriptions and other expenses. Ned's taking care of that. Every month they get a very generous check from the cardiovascular surgeon. The older man says it's the least he owes them after Jimmy ran off to places unknown when Ian was still in the ICU breathing on a ventilator. Lip thinks it's an attempt for the old man to ease the guilt of what happened to Ian since his brother was on his way home from being out with the older man when he was attacked. Whatever the reason is for the geriatric cutting them a check every month he's not complaining. Sometimes a small piece of him thinks that maybe they should feel bad for taking the money. Like they're the doctor's dirty little secret. But, then Ian has a seizure at the kitchen table. Or he looks on sadly as Mandy begs Ian to go to the movies with her and he refuses to because he still doesn't like to leave the house if he doesn't have to. Or Fiona has to leave work early because Carl got in a fight at school after another kid called Ian a retard. It's because of things like that that he or Fiona have no qualms now when Ned comes by on the first of every month with that generous check.

Lip grabs him and Mickey a beer and his brothers juice boxes. He stops in the doorway as he hears Ian laughs. A real genuine laugh at something Mickey said. He looks on as he sees the two sitting close to each other. Ian's so close to the ex-con that their bodies are touching. That's something that changed too. Lip guesses that it's really true when they say that tragedy do bring people together. Mandy didn't have to tell him how crushed her brother was when they found out about Ian. Lip saw it when he ran into Mickey outside of the hospital under the pretense that he was there with Mandy. The ex-con looked like his world was collapsing. After Jake Fisher, Pauly DelVichio, Drew O'Connor, Matt Thomas, and Sean Renchinski found out that Ian committed the ultimate crime of being gay and that his punishment was a brutal beating that left his brother in a coma for ten days with doctors using phrases such as "Traumatic brain injury," "You need to prepare yourself for the worst. Your brother may not make it through the night," and "need for long term care."

But Ian did make it. And Mickey and Lip and others took care of the ones who hurt him their own way. And now Mickey is acting like the man that Ian wanted and needed so badly. When Mickey doesn't move away when Ian puts his hand on the smaller man's leg, as Mickey wraps his tattoed fingers over Ian's pale hand. Lip can't help but think that it took Ian nearly dying for the ex-con to step up. How Mickey changed so much over the last couple of months. Coming over and visiting Ian. Smacking Frank around when he got a hold of some of Ian's meds. How Mickey's a common sight at the dinner table to the point where he now has dish duty once a week.

"What the fuck you looking at?" Mickey calls out when he sees Lip standing there in the door way. On second thought maybe not everything has changed.

**After seeing the scene between Lip and Mickey in the last episode I wanted to see Lip's perspective on Ian and Mickey and decided to throw in a life altering injury for a little extra angst.**

**This may be just a one shot. But, if you guys would like me to I will continue it. As always let me know what you guys think!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: It seems that some of you guys would like me to continue this, so I decided to. I know I have a lot of stories out there, but I'm just a sucker for hurt Ian and protective Mickey and Lip. Anyways, I decided to continue this as a series of one shots. With that said here's the next installment. **

**Changed-Chapter 2**

Slightly warmer air welcomes Lip as he walks into the Alibi. Putting the cooler autumnal air behind him, he walks up to the bar. He really needs a fucking drink. Kev must be a mind reader for there's already a beer waiting for him at his seat.

"Thanks, Kev." Lip says as he takes a large sip of his beer. Relishing in the warm comfort of the alcohol filling his stomach. He can't help but sigh in relief for he feels like he can breathe for the first time since Tony knocked on their door at four in the morning, nearly two weeks ago to tell them about Ian.

Next thing he knows there's also a shot in front of him. Lip raises his eyebrows. "Hey man, figured you could use it."

Lip runs his hand through his hair. "I could use the whole bottle at his point."

"He's doing better though, right? I mean Vee said that he woke up," Kev asks with a hopeful look.

Lip throws back the shot but doesn't say anything. True Ian did wake up. But, he's still on that damn respirator in the ICU with a chunk of his skull missing to help alleviate the pressure in his brain. "Yeah, he woke up." Lip says softly looking into his beer glass. "Still on that damn respirator though. Still don't know the extent of the brain damage."

The bartender waves off Lip's comment about the respirator and brain damage, instead trying to focus on the positive. "Yeah, he's still on the respirator and you guys might not know the damage, but the important thing is Ian woke up. He's a fucking Gallagher. Nothing keeps you giys down. You should be having a celebratory drink in his honor. Coming back from death's door and all." Kev says as he pours them both a shot.

This shot goes down a little easier. Part of him knows that Kev is right. He needs to take comfort in the fact that Ian woke up. It wasn't too long ago that they were told that it looked unlikely that his brother would make it though the night due to his severe injuries. And if he did make it though the night they weren't sure if he would wake up. But he did. Granted they don't know the extent of the damage yet, but at least he's awake. He should be hopeful but he can't help it. He's a Gallagher. He needs to be ready for the other shoe to drop.

"How's Fiona?" Kev asks after he finishes his shot.

Lip takes a sip of his beer, but shrugs his shoulders. "Shouldering on. Jimmy's still MIA."

"Still?" Kev asks. "Guess shit got too real for the North side pussy."

Lip just nods his head. He knows that Kev probably doesn't know the full story. He doesn't know how it took both Mandy and Fiona to pry him off of Ned when he showed up at the hospital to see how Ian was doing. That Ian was walking home during the early morning hours after he was with the heart doctor when he got ambushed. The bartender probably doesn't know all the details that led up to Jimmy taking off. That he ran out of the house after an overtired and emotionally drained Fiona screamed at her boyfriend that his family's charity wasn't wanted or needed after he told her that his father would be paying for a neurosurgeon consult for Ian. If Kev was home and not at The Alibi then he probably would have heard his sister throwing a bowl at the ex car thief while screaming "_He wouldn't have been in this situation if your pedo father kept his hands to himself!" _

"How are the kids?" Kev asks breaking Lip's thoughts.

Lip sighs. Sad as it is they're used to shit. Granted nothing to this extent has ever happened before. "Okay, I guess. Now that it looks like Ian turned a corner, Fi's trying to get them back to some kind of consistency. She's home now with them catching up on school work and getting them ready for bed."

"So who's with Ian?"

Lip takes another sip of his beer. "Mandy," Lip says gratefully.

Kev quirks his eyebrows. Lip knows why. He and Mandy have not had the most conventional relationship, but when pushed came to shove there was no one else he would have turned to after everything that has happened with Ian. She was at the hospital within an hour after Lip called her and told her what happened. Her presence at the hospital was a consistent fixture as the Gallagher family waited for hours on end for information on the redhead's condition. And despite Fiona's first misgivings the female Milkovich has helped when it came to watching and caring for the younger Gallagher siblings.

"Don't start with me," Lip says as he takes another sip of his beer.

The older man shakes his head, "I wasn't going to. I was-"

The sound of a body hitting the bar and a slurred "Get me nother," brings their attention to someone who is attempting to stand against the bar a few feet away from them.

Lip can't help but stare. It's Mickey. And the ex-con looks like complete shit and not just because he's wasted. The hunch of his shoulders, the darkening bruises under his eyes, all show that he's feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. Lip knows that the neighborhood thug is taking what happened to Ian hard. Lip saw it firsthand when Mickey came with Mandy to the hospital the day after Ian was attacked. He said that he was only there because of some obligation to his sister, but the fear in Mickey's eyes said something different. And with everything going Mickey's state of mind was the last thing Lip had time to think about. He knows that the ex-con has not been able to see Ian because of the visitor restrictions of the ICU. If Lip did try and get him in he would no doubt he subjected to nothing short of the Spanish Inquisition by Fiona.

"Jesus, Mickey!" Kev yells as he moves towards the ex-con.

"Shut da fuck up. Give me a notha," Mickey slurs.

Kev shakes his head but gets the younger man a drink. He knows better than to come between a Milkovich and his booze. Mickey gives Kev a crooked smirk as he gulps down his drink. He lets out a loud belch. "Know what? I like firecrotches," Mickey blurts out.

Fuck. Lip's eyes go huge. He can't let Mickey do this. Almost everyone knows about Ian now. The news of a gay bashing doesn't take long to make its way through the southside. And as much as Mickey fucked with his brother's heart, he can't let the same thing happened to him that happened to his brother. Ian would never forgive him. Lip slams his glass down and strolls over to Mickey.

"Come on, Mickey. Let's go." Lip says as he puts his hand on Mickey's arm.

Mickey shakes Lip's hand lose, "Fuck off, Gallagher."

But, Lip's not deterred. Mickey can't hurt him. He's so far gone that Lip is surprised that he hasn't passed out yet. "Shut the fuck up and let's go!"

"Fuck off, Gallagher!" Mickey hisses, his eyes filled with anger. "Want another drink."

Lip looks around to make sure that no one is really listening to the two of them. Sure enough no one is. A belligerent drunk Milkovich is nothing new. He leans in and whispers softly, "Let me get you out of here."

"Why the fuck for? You ain't my mother."

"No, I'm not. But, I'm the only way you're gonna get into the hospital to see Ian."

The tint of anger leaves his eyes and is replaced with something else. "What?"

"I'll figure something out, but it ain't gonna do us any good if you out yourself and get killed before I can get you in to see him."

Mickey nods his head and attempts to stand up straighter. With Mickey at his side they leave the several questioning looks behind as they go back into the cool air.

**XXXXX**

"Why the fuck is Mickey Milkovich passed out on our couch?" Fiona asks over her coffee cup when Lip comes down the stairs.

"Debs and Carl up yet?" Lip asks as he kisses Liam on the forehead.

"Still asleep. Felt like after everything that has happened that I'll let them sleep in for a bit." Fiona says. "You didn't answer my question. Why the hell is Mickey here? Mandy I get. Mandy I understand, but Mickey?"

Lip pours himself a cup of coffee from the pot. Not knowing really where to start since he really doesn't know or understand what's going on between Ian and Mickey. "He got hammered at the Alibi last night. Started flapping his lips."

Fiona shrugs her shoulders, "So? Since when has that become your problem?"

"About two years ago."

Fiona puts her head in her hands before looking back at her brother. "What the hell does that mean? I'm too tired to deal with this shit. What the fuck is going on?!"

"He was talking about how he likes redheads," Lip adds.

Lip remains quiet as he watches the confused look in his sister's eyes turn to one of realization. Then after several long moments, Fiona beaks her silence. "Oh no. You have got to be fucking kidding me."

Fiona looks into the living room to see that Mickey is still passed out on their couch. "Mickey and Ian?"

Lip nods his head as he joins Fiona. "On and off for awhile now. He's really messed up because of what happened to Ian."

Fiona nods her head. What happened to Ian messed them all up and they were allowed to show how they feel. Mickey can't do that. Hell, Mickey couldn't even go to the hospital without raising suspicion. She takes out her cell phone.

Lip asks nervously, "who are you calling?"

With the phone pressed to her ear, she replies "Relax. I'm calling the hospital. Putting Mickey on the visiting list."

Lip gives her a small smile before he turns back into the kitchen to get breakfast started.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: So I started writing the next chapter for Changed, but then this idea just came to me. So, this is the new chapter three. I hope you guys enjoy!**

**Changed-Chapter 3**

Lip looks up from his text book when Debbie comes running into the house with Fiona chasing after her.

"Debbie! Debbie! Get back here!" Fiona yells at her younger sister who is already running up the stairs.

"What the fuck?" Mickey asks from his place on the couch, next to Carl. Lip really doesn't know why the ex-con is there at the moment. Ian isn't home. Mandy convinced him to sneak into the movies with her. But he knows better to say anything. That's why when Mickey showed up about half an hour ago he just nodded his head and offered him a beer.

When Fiona joins him in the kitchen, Lip asks "What the hell is going on?"

Fiona grabs herself a beer as she makes her way over to her brother. "Got a call from school. She got in a fight. Ripped some girl's hair out and bit another one."

Lip shakes his head in disbelief. "Debs?" Carl fighting, yes. That is nothing new, But Debbie?

Fiona nods her head as she takes a sip of her beer. "Suspended for two weeks."

"Two weeks?! She never gets in trouble." Lip says.

Fiona nods her head. "I said that. But the prick principal won't budge. It doesn't exactly help that Debbie isn't saying why she did it." She takes another long sip of her beer. "All she keeps saying is 'the bitches deserved it." His sisters' hands are raised as she's doing air quotes.

Fiona starts playing with the beer bottle's label. "I better go up there and talk to her."

Lip closes his quantitative physics book. "I'll do it."

"You sure?"

Lip looks at his sister. Taking in the pure exhaustion that is visible across her face. She's working the office gig during the week, bartending at some swanky bar on the northside on the weekends, keeping track of Ian's doctor appointments, medicines, and the normal every day shit. She looks like she's ready to drop.

"I got this. Enjoy your beer."

Fiona gives him a small smile as he starts upstairs. He's walking slowly, taking the time to figure out what he's going to say to his sister. Debs has never done anything like this before. Actually it's a bit of a miracle that she hasn't. with all the crap the young redhead has had to deal with in her short life. With Monica breezing in and out of their lives. Frank only being around when he needs something. Jimmy, who was somewhat of a consistent parental figure, taking off to parts unknown six months ago. Then all the shit with Ian. Jesus, it's a miracle that the kid didn't go off the edge earlier.

The blonde rubs his face apprehensively as he comes closer to Debbie's bedroom door. The door isn't completely closed, so he can hear the conversation that is taking place in his sister's room. His eyes go big when he hears who is in the room with Debbie.

"What made you do it?" Mickey asks.

He can hear his sister sigh loudly. "What makes you think that something made me do it? Maybe I just wanted to hurt someone."

Lip remains still as he hears the ex-con snicker. "Bullshit"

"What? I can't hurt somebody because I want to?"

"I can see Carl doing that because he's crazy. But, not you. So what happened? What did those dumb bitches do?"

"Carl hasn't gotten in a fight in awhile," Debs says in hopes of moving the conversation away from her.

Lip remains silent as he stays outside of his sister's room. His sister is right. Carl is doing better. He hasn't gotten into a fight in a couple of months. In fact the calls from the school about Carl have been virtually nonexistent over the last couple of months. It's partly because the kid is growing up. He knows that the family is busy with Ian. But, Lip also thinks the reason why Carl has been behaving better is because despite his own misgivings Mickey kind of has taken the kid under his wing. Taking him target shooting. Mandy has also told him that she overheard Mickey taking the kid aside and telling him to "knock the shit off. Your sisters and brothers are already dealing with enough shit. You want to fight someone, make someone hurt. Come find me."

"They say something about Ian?" Mickey asks.

Debbie remains quiet for several long moments before she starts to talk. "Casey Malone and Amber Raverty said he was a spaz. Asked if he wears diapers because of the seizures," Debbie says softly.

Lip's hands are already into fists. He can feel his heart racing as the anger takes control.

"Did they need stitches?"

The question pulls Lip from the overwhelming anger. What the fuck is Mickey talking about?

"No, but she did need a tetanus shot."

"If you want to make them need stitches talk to Mandy. Few years ago she bit Courtney Higgins, took fourteen stitches to close that shit up."

Jesus Mandy! He knew she was nuts. But biting? What is she a damn dog?

"Fiona is probably so pissed. She has so much on her mind. And now I just got suspended."

"Nah. Suspension is nothing new with you Gallagher's. I think she's more pissed about the fact that you didn't tell her what the fuck is going on."

He hears Mickey sigh before he continues. "You know what else?"

"What?"

"Those bitches don't know shit about you or your family. But we do know that Casey's mom is a coke head and Amber is being raised by her senile grandmother because her mother ran out to California to be with that porn star." He stops before he continues. " Remember they are no better than you."

"Thanks, Mickey."

"No problem, brat. Now I need to grab a beer."

Lip can hear them moving and he really doesn't want to be seen spying on their conversation so he quickly makes his way back to the kitchen.

"Everything okay?" Fiona asks from the kitchen table when he comes back into the room.

Lip nods his head. "Mickey's taken care of it."

"Mickey?" Fiona asks in confusion.

Before either of them can say anything Debbie is standing in the doorway. "Fiona? Can I talk to you?"

Fiona nods her head, motioning for her sister to go on.

" I got into the fight…."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: So now that the hiatus has started I guess reruns and fan fiction are all we have until January, uggh! So with that said, here's the next chapter.**

**Changed-Chapter 4**

"Yo! Gallagher! Wait up!"

Lip turns around to see Mickey Milkovich walking towards him. "What's up, Mickey?"

"You have that tablet thingy?" Mickey asks as he catches up with the blonde and they continue walking to the Gallagher house.

"Yeah, I have it in my bag." Lip says motioning to his backpack. "You want it now?"

Mickey shakes his head. "Nah. Debs made Ian cookies. Told her that I would stop by and bring them to him since she can't get over there until the weekend."

"How fucking precious," Lip says with a smirk.

"Shud up," Mickey drawls as they make their way up the back steps to the Gallagher house.

Fiona shouting welcomes the two of them as soon as they walk in. He instantly recognizes Frank, but draws a blank as to who the blonde woman is in the kitchen.

"—Can't do that! The doctors said that any kind of disruption to his routine can make things worse."

"Jesus Christ!" Lip exclaims.

"Who the fuck is that?!" Mickey asks when he sees who Fiona is yelling at. Who the fuck is the doe eyed blonde bitch at Frank's side?

"Mickey meet our flaky mother who decided to come back and see Ian," Fiona barks with a venom laced voice.

"Oh... Mickey?" The blonde says with a smile. "You're the boy that was in Juvie right?"

Mickey shakes his head. What the fuck is this crazy bitch talking about? Then it clicks. All those times when he pretended like he wasn't paying attention when Ian was talking about his family. This is Ian's mother. The same mother who left the Gallagher kids more times than he can count. The mother who came back with her lesbian girl friend to try and take away Ian's little brother. The same Monica Gallagher who cut her wrists in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. The same woman who was nowhere to be found despite Lip and Fiona moving hell and earth to find her when it looked like Gallagher wasn't going to make it.

"Ian cares about you so much," Monica says looking at Mickey.

"Shut up!" Mickey yells. "Just shut up! You don't have the right to say that shit."

"Yeah, Monica. We're not talking about that." Fiona says.

"Yeah, let's talk about how you were nowhere to be fucking found when Ian was dying," Lip lashes out angrily.

"I understand that. But, I'm here now," Monica says tearfully.

"Save it! You said that before," Fiona yells.

Mickey remains quiet. Letting the scene in front of him unfold. He guesses Ian was right. He was better off with his mother dead.

"She's his mother," Frank speaks for the first time, taking a drink from his beer.

"And you!" Fiona sneers getting in her father's face. "You knew how desperate we were to find her. The doctors didn't think he was going to make it. Obviously you knew how to get a hold of her and still you said shit."

"Hey! I told her what happened. She said to call her when things calmed down," Frank defends himself.

Lip snickers as Mickey bites out, "You fucking kidding me?"

"I knew I couldn't handle seeing him like that!" Monica cries.

Fiona scoffs. "And you think that we could. That we wanted to see him breathing on a respirator. That we enjoyed seeing him with a chunk of his skull missing. It was a real fucking blast watching him have three seizures in a day," Fiona laughs sarcastically. "But, we did it. Because we're fucking family! You don't run out on family!"

"You two just keep doing what you do best. Stay gone. We've got this." Lip says pointing to himself, Fiona, and much to the ex-con's surprise Mickey.

Knowing that her pleas will fall on death ears with her oldest son, Monica turns to Fiona. "I know that I've been a terrible mother. But talking from one mother to another, please just let me see him. Let me see how he's doing," she begs desperately.

Both Mickey and Lip can see Fiona's resolve starting to fade as Monica begins to cry, pleading to see Ian.

"No fucking way that's gonna happen," Mickey says.

"You're not fucking family," Frank bites back at the ex-con.

"He might not be, but he has earned his place here. More than we can say about the two of you!" Lip growls. "You went to visit him what once? STAY. THE. FUCK. AWAY!"

"Lip!"Fiona yells.

"Fi, don't tell me that you're actually gonna give in to this bullshit? Ian can't afford a setback. He's doing so well. And you know damn well that seeing her is only going to fuck with him."

"Lip!" Fiona yells again, this time louder.

Lip feels a sharp elbow in his ribs. He turns to Mickey. "What the fuck man?!"

Mickey tilts his head to the side towards the living room. In the heat of unleashing his anger at his parents he didn't even hear Debs and Carl come in. Shit.

"Monica?"

"Mom?" The two younger Gallagher's ask quietly.

Mickey expects the two of them to run into their mother's arms. They are kids after all and she has been gone for way too long. But, surprisingly they don't. They know way too much for their age. They know that Monica and Frank are too selfish to be parents. And that despite the fact that they are still kids, they have come to rely on their older siblings more so than their biological parents. They know not to fall for their bullshit.

"Why are you here?" Debbie asks bitterly.

"I came to see you guys," Monica says with a smile, wiping away her tears with her sleeve. She opens her arms for a hug. But Debbie and Carl don't move. "I came to see how Ian's doing."

"Why?" Carl says. "Why didn't you come before when things were really bad?"

"She's here now," Frank says like that's all that matters. Like years of neglect can be made by that one simple phrase.

"Yeah. Too little, too late." Debbie says with a roll of her eyes.

Not being able to take anymore of the Gallagher family soap opera, Mickey says. "Listen, I'll let you guys hatch your shit out. I'm gonna get going. Told Ian that I'll stop by today."

He turns to leave to let the Gallagher's continue to bicker when Debbie calls him, "Mickey?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I come with you to see him?"

"Me too?" Carl asks.

Shit. Two Gallagher's tagging along is the last thing he wants, but the sad looks on their faces dig a little bit at him. If Ian was there he'd laugh and call him a fucking pussy. But, then again a lot of things have changed that fateful night almost three months ago. He turns to Fiona looking at her eyes for permission.

"Fine, you guys can go. But, don't be too late." Fiona says as she hands Debbie a plastic bag that is filled with things for Ian. "And don't say anything to him about her being here," Fiona says softly referring to their mother.

Frank scoffs and utters "Unfucking believable."

Ignoring her father's protests and her mother's sad eyes, she continues "Ian has had a good couple of days. Don't want him to have a setback."

Lip hands Mickey the tablet that Ned got for Ian. It has some apps on it that the redhead's occupational therapist said would help him."Thanks, man for getting them out of here."

Mickey nods his head and the three of them quickly leave the house. Just mere seconds after Carl closes the back door, yelling and curses can be heard again. Mickey sighs, but the two Gallagher's don't seem fazed by it in the slightest. They're far too used to it.

"I hope Ian likes the cookies I made," Debbie says breaking the awkward silence as they make their way down the road to the EL.

"Do they have nuts in them?" Carl asks.

"Yeah. Why?" Debbie asks confused.

"As long as they have nuts in them, I bet he'll love them," Carl says grinning at Mickey.

Mickey rolls his eyes at the teenager's lame ass joke, "Shut up fuckwad."

Carl just laughs as the trio continue walking down the street.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Shameless.**

**A/N1: Thanks again to all of you who are reviewing, following, and favoriting this story. You guys are the best!**

**A/N2: This story is a series of one shots, but I wanted to do a follow up to chapter 4 where Carl and Debbie tag along with Mickey to visit Ian.**

**Changed-Chapter 5**

Mickey doesn't exchange pleasantries with anyone at the nurses station when he walks into the rehabilitation center with Debbie and Carl hot on his heels. But then again, he never does. He's not there to see them. He lets Debbie be the polite one leaving her at the desk to say hi to the staff and asking how their day is. Carl shares the ex-con's sentiments as he continues to walk by Mickey's side to his brother's room.

Mickey is so intent on seeing Gallagher that he doesn't acknowledge the nurse who yells at him that Ian might still be sleeping. That Ian might be tired because he had both physical and occupational therapy today. Mickey doesn't care if Ian is sleeping. He just has to see with his own eyes that he's okay. That the shitshow that is currently taking place in the Gallagher kitchen did not make its way to the other side of the city, to Ian.

He can't help but sigh in relief when he sees that Ian is resting comfortably on his bed, his drugged eyes focused on the television that Mandy brought him.

"Hey," Mickey calls out as he walks into the room.

Gallagher doesn't notice him, but he's not surprised. Mickey is competing over the loud ass volume of the television and they're still waiting for the final report from the audiologist to see the extent of the damage done to the ginger's ear.

"Hey, asswipe!" Carl says as he plops down next to his brother.

"Jesus!" Mickey curses. "What the fuck is-" he starts to say but stops when he sees that Ian is smiling at them.

"C-Ca-ca-carl. M-m-ick?" Ian asks. Confusion is evident in his voice. He was expecting Mickey, but to see his brother tagging along has thrown him off.

"Ian!" Debbie calls from the doorway.

If Ian looked confused before, he looks really fucking confused now when he sees Debbie there.

"W-wh-wh," Ian tries to get out. His aggravation with his inability to get the words our clearly evident by the anxious look on his face and the way his hands are moving frantically.

"Easy, tough guy. Relax," Mickey says as he tries to reassure the redhead.

"B-b-b-ut. W-wh," Ian tries again pointing to his brother and sister and then to Mickey. The fact that they all came together isn't lost on him. Mickey always visits him alone. And Fiona usually only lets the kids visit on the weekend. Some shit about routine.

The fact that Carl is unusually quiet and Debbie is biting through her bottom lip does nothing to help the façade that everything is okay.

"M-m-ick," Ian pleas. His eyes boring into Mickey,

Fuck. Mickey can't do this anymore. Not with Gallagher looking at him like this. "Listen, man."

"Mickey, don't!" Debbie interrupts. "Fiona said-"

"He's gonna find out anyway," Carl jumps in.

The kid might be a delinquent in training. But he's not stupid.

Ian's eyes get even bigger. "Wh-what."

Mickey sighs out loud. He puts his hand on Ian's cheek. "Monica's back."

Ian doesn't say anything, he's looking down into his lap.

"She wants to see you," Debbie says softly.

"N-n-now?" Ian asks.

Mickey can hear the hitch in the redhead's voice. Fucking Monica.

The ex-con rubs Ian's cheek with his finger affectionately." It's up to you. You wanna see her?"

Ian closes his eyes for a few seconds. "t-t-t-th-th-th-ink b-b-out i-t-tt."

Mickey nods his head. "You do that firecrotch. Take as much time as you need."

Ian nods his head.

Mickey hears an awkward coughing noise. Why the fuck did he agree to let the kids tag along?

"I got you the IPad that Ned bought you," Debbie says cutting into the silence of the room.

"Douche," Carl mutters under his breath referring to his sister's ex-boyfriend's closeted father.

Mickey wants to smirk. Man he loves that kid.

"I downloaded those programs that Pam said are good for you," Deb says as she takes out the tablet from the Save-a-lot bag and places it on the table that's besides the full size bed.

"I downloaded Minecraft too," Carl adds with a smile.

Ian nods his head. "T-th-th-anks."

Ian looks at Debbie and Carl's crestfallen faces. He knows that despite their easy going demeanor seeing Monica again has thrown them through a loop. "Y-y-ou o-o-o-kay?" Ian asks looking at Carl and then his sister.

Both Carl and Debbie look down. And for the hundredth time, Mickey wishes he did something to get rid of the blonde bitch. With all the shit Ian has going on he shouldn't have to comfort his younger siblings because their absentee mother has decided to make an appearance.

"We're good. We know Monica's MO by now," Debbie replies sadly.

Ian nods his head understanding. Getting the hint. They don't want to talk about it. "B-b-ring a-a-any-th-th-ing good," he asks hopefully.

Debbie shakes her head, "Was a last minute thing. Didn't know we were gonna visit you. I only made cookies because I knew that Mickey was coming. Planned on giving them to him.

Ian perks up. "Y-yeah? Wh-hat k-k-k-ind?"

"You're gonna like them. They have nuts in them," Carl says with a smirk.

Mickey rolls his eyes.

Ian lets out a laugh instantly getting the joke.

"Keep fucking laughing there ginger."

"C-can't h-h-he-help it." Ian laughs, holding his gut

Mickey rolls his eyes. Sounds so good to hear Ian like this. Especially with his douche bag mom back.

"You have to eat your dinner first," Debbie says.

Ian nods his head. "t-t-try."

That's a positive Mickey thinks. Eating has been a huge battle since Ian woke up. Anything that concerns motor skills is a bitch.

"Stop being such a bitch,"Carl says, slapping his brother on the arm.

"Didn't you guys bring something for us to watch?" Mickey asks.

"Oh!" Carl says slapping himself on his forehead, "totally forgot."

Carl takes out a DVD as Debbie gives Ian and Mickey a cookie. "Got a copy of Man of Steel. Thought you might like it. You know seeing since he's in tights."

Mickey is ready to smack him, but Ian's cackling laughter stops him. "Get up here," Mickey says as he sits next to Ian on the full sized bed. Carl laughs as he sits next to his brother. Debbie rolls her eyes as she sits next to Mickey.

Debbie and Carl argue throughout the previews, but just as the opening credits start, Debbie stops and says softly, "this is nice."

As he is sitting there sandwiched between two redheaded Gallagher's with Carl making obnoxious comments Mickey doesn't move his hand away when Ian begins playing with his tattooed fingers, he can't help but think that despite everything this is nice.

"Ian? You good?" Debbie asks as she eats a pretzel.

"Y—yeah," Ian says.

With his siblings attention focused on the movie onscreen arguing about who plays Lois Lane, they don't see Mickey and Ian holding hands.

"Y-yeah. G-g-g-ood." Ian says again, squeezing Mickey's hand tight. Mickey nods his head as he squeezes Ian's hand tighter.

**Chapter Six Preview: **Mickey has taken up residence on the Gallagher couch. His older siblings have spent years looking after him, Debbie, and Liam. And with Fiona and Lip busy with the endless stream of doctors, it's time for Carl to have a little chat with Mickey. Ian has been through enough shit, a broken heart is the last thing his older brother needs.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: I really fell in love with Carl this season. With that said I wanted to dedicate a chapter to him. So, here it is!**

**Changed-Chapter 6**

You can say a lot about Carl. He's a sadist. He takes joy in hurting others. His only future is probably a lengthy jail sentence. He's a hellion. He's every teacher and principal's worst nightmare. But the one thing he's not is stupid.

He knows that Ian is gay. Whenever he goes through his brother's things he never sees porn. Lip keeps it everywhere. And if that wasn't enough, the fact that Mandy Milkovich has been his brother's only girlfriend is a dead giveaway, especially since he didn't really seem to care that Lip and her got together.

He's not deaf. He may pretend that he doesn't hear the whispers that Jake Fisher and Drew O'Connor saw Ian leave a gay bar shortly before his brother's skull was bashed in. He plays it off like he doesn't hear it when he hears some asshole mutter under his breath how 'the fucking fairy got what he deserved' when Carl passes said asshole on the street. But, he does.

Carl isn't blind either. The way his siblings look down whenever he asks why Ian got hurt. He sees the look of contempt on Lip's face whenever Jimmy's father stops by the house to discuss what's going on with Ian. There's definitely some shady shit going on there. Jimmy's gone so why is his pansy ass father taking an interest in his family's business?

Ian's gay. They just don't talk about it.

And he's pretty sure that Mickey is too.

Mickey has been camped out on their couch for the past week and a half. And Fiona and Lip have been mute whenever someone asks why he's there. He sees how Mickey clenches his hands into fists when Lip says how Ian had another seizure. He hears Mandy whisper 'Relax, Mick" when Ned comes to their house to discuss flying some fancy specialist in to see Ian.

Carl is pretty sure that Mickey loves his older brother. But, he needs to make sure. Ian has been through enough shit. Having to pick up the pieces along with Fiona and Lip after their mother took off leaving them with Frank who would rather do anything but be a parent, thrusting him into the role of caregiver when he was still just a kid himself. While he and Debbie were ordered out of the kitchen on Thanksgiving, Ian looked on as Kev and Jimmy tried to stop her from bleeding out.

And now Ian has a whole new other set of issues to deal with. Carl may act like he's dumb, but he's not. He knows that things are bad with Ian. Ian has been in the hospital for three weeks and neither he nor Debbie has been allowed to see him. Every time one of them asks Fiona gives them a small sad smile, "Not yet, monkeys." Or Lip gives them a hug and whispers "He's still in ICU, guys. No one under 18 can see him, sorry." When his older siblings think he's asleep, he sneaks out of his room and stands at the top of the stairs. He hears Lip cursing Jimmy's father, taking his anger out by punching the walls only stopping when Fiona cries out for him to stop. He listens on as Vee and Mandy tell his brother and sister not to give up on Ian. He hears Mickey stumbling in drunk and him telling what must be Lip and Fiona to "fuck off."

Carl needs to make sure the ex-con is in it for the long haul. A broken heart is the last thing his brother needs. With Lip and Fiona busy with all the medical stuff concerning their brother, he has to handle the Mickey factor. And with his older siblings out of the house at the moment, now is the perfect time to set things straight. Carl walks over to the couch and nudges the ex-con awake with his hand.

Thank god he has good reflexes and moves out of the way when Mickey's hand flies up as if to ward off an assault. "What the fuck?" Mickey asks rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

Not wanting to beat around the bush, Carl jumps right in. "Do you love him?"

"What?" Mickey asks, sitting up.

"Do you?" Carl asks.

"Do I what?"

"Love him," Carl asks slowly, eyes narrowing in on the ex-con's face.

Mickey doesn't say anything

"Well?" Carl asks impatiently.

Mickey bites his lip. "What the fuck is with the Spanish Inquisition?"

Not liking Mickey's avoidance, Carl presses on. "Just answer it. Do you love Ian?"

He can see Mickey looking at the door, probably debating whether or nor he should make a run for it. But surprisingly he doesn't. He turns back to the kid. "Maybe…Think so."

Carl nods his head. The ex-con's words are unsure, but the raw emotion in his face tells Carl what he needs to know. "Need to make sure that you do. Everyone kinda takes him for granted. You know? Gets Lip's hand me downs. Frank used to smack him around the most. That stopped when Ian got muscles."

Mickey starts fidgeting his discomfort talking about Ian clearly evident.

"Couldn't help him when those asses beat the shit out of him. And I'm no doctor but I'm still his brother. I have to try and protect anyway I can. Even if it's from you." Carl stops before he goes on. He knows he's pushing it. Hopes that Mickey loves his brother enough to stop him from bashing his kid's brother face in.

"Not gonna try and hurt him," Mickey says softly.

"Good, because he has enough shit to deal with."

"I know that," Mickey sneers.

With the hard shit out of the way, Carl has some more questions for Mickey. Questions that he doesn't want to bother his siblings with. They have enough going on.

"What's the story with my brother and Jimmy's dad?"

Mickey sighs. "I'm too sober to deal with this shit."

"I know it has to be kinda fucked up because whenever I ask Fiona and Lip they tell me stay out of it. Every time he comes around Lip looks like he's gonna kill him," Carl says as he walks to the fridge and grabs Mickey a beer.

"That should be a clue then to stop asking stupid fucking questions," Mickey says as he takes the offered beer.

"I know Ned is gay. But, why does Lip hate him so much?"

Mickey takes a large sip of his beer. "Listen, kid. You should probably talk to your sister and Lip about this."

All Carl wants is a straight answer and no one will give him that. He throws his arms up in frustration."I tried to! No one will tell ma anything!"

Mickey looks down at his beer.

"Is it because of Jimmy?" Carl asks, trying a different approach. "He feel bad that Jimmy took off on Fiona again?"

The older boy shakes his head, "Nah, wish that was all."

"It's not?" Carl asks, taking a seat next to the ex-con.

After several long silent moments, Mickey says quietly "He was with Ian that night."

Carl doesn't say what night. He knows what night Mickey is talking about. The night when Tony came busting into their house saying that Fiona had to get down to St. Michael's. That Ian was hurt. Was hurt bad.

The boy looks at Mickey confused, "Why was he with Jimmy's dad? He's like 80."

"Daddy issues?" Mickey says trying to make light of the situation.

"But, I thought you guys were together. What was he doing with him?

Mickey shrugs his shoulders, playing with the wet label on the beer bottle. "Your brother was pissed at me. I couldn't give him what he wanted. Not like Ned could."

Carl nods his head. "And now?"

Mickey takes another sip of his beer. "I'm here now."

Carl nods his head. He gets it. What's done is done. Nothing can change what happened in the past. The most important thing is the now. And as long as Mickey is here now for Ian. That's fine with him.

"You done now with all the dumb ass questions, tough guy?" Mickey asks.

Carl nods his head, "Good, for now."

"Better be," Mickey says as he offers the kid his beer.

Carl takes it gracefully and takes a large sip, yeah they're good.

**Hope you liked this little installment. I'm a little torn on what to do for the next chapter. Here's are the choices. Help me choose!**

**Option 1: **(Bree requested) Ian is home, but still recovering from his injuries. Fiona asks him to go pick something up from the store and someone decides to hurt/harass him. Good thing Mickey just happened to be nearby.

**Option 2: **A bit of a continuation of this chapter. Lip never would have thought that Mickey would be the one to pull Carl off of Ned when he stops by the house.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: A big shout out to those who have favorited and followed this. And an even bigger shout out to those who are reviewing. It really is you guys who have given me the push to update so quickly. I decided to do option 2 since it makes more sense logistically. But, don't worry chapter 8 would be option one.**

**Changed-Chapter 7**

Carl is half heartedly throwing a tennis ball up into the air. He pauses when he hears voices downstairs.

"Are you fucking serious?! You think we should switch doctors now? Dr. Lupillo has been good so far."

" Don't get me wrong John Lupillo is good, but Isha Khan is the best."

Carl looks at Liam who is still napping. Sighing, he gets up. He's already in deep shit with Fiona because of his two week suspension. It's not his fault that Daniel Wu took what he called "negotiating" as threatening and went crying to the principal. Still, Fiona is pissed. He knows that his sister is tired. The doctors are talking about performing another surgery on Ian and the last thing she needed was a phone call informing her that he was suspended for threatening the life of a classmate. But what's done is done. And, at this point what's a little eavesdropping?

He quietly makes his way down the stairs, the voices from below getting louder as he makes his way to the kitchen.

"You heard what Dr. Lupillo said another surgery could kill him. I say we wait for the drainage tube and meds to work," Fiona says.

"He already had several seizures even with the new meds," a less familiar voice says.

Carl can hear the sense of authority in the voice. He knows who it is. It's Ned. Jimmy/Steve's dad. The one who was with Ian the night he nearly died. He can hear his heartbeat pounding fast as he clenches his hands into fists. Next thing he knows he's in the kitchen beating his twelve year old fists into the older man's chest and face. Kicking at the older ma's legs because the blows he was throwing was not inflicting the damage he wanted.

"Hey, stop!"

"Carl"  
>"Stop, Carl!"<p>

"What the fuck!"

He feels strong arms around him pulling him away from his target.

"You left him! I read how you saw them watching you two! But, you left him. Ian wouldn't be hurt if you didn't leave him!" Carl cries, his blows slowing as his sobs takes over.

"You read what?" Fiona asks coming to stand in front of her little brother.

"The police report!" Carl sobs trying to get away from the hold that has him firmly in its grasp.

"The police report?" Lip asks confused. "Carl, that hasn't been released yet."

Carl tries harder to get out of the hold of whoever is holding him back, "Daniel Wu,"

"The kid you threatened and got suspended over?" Fiona asks.

"Told him I would make his life hell if he didn't hack into the Chicago PD data base," Carl admits.

"Let me get this straight, you threatened some preteen into hacking into the police data base so you could read the report on your brother?" The voice holding him asks surprised

Carl looks over his shoulder in confusion. Mickey? In the heat of the moment he never registered that it was Mickey who pried him off of Ned. Now, getting his bearings he can see both Fiona and Lip looking at him sadly and Ned nursing a busted lip. Good! It serves the pedo right!

"Yeah, well. I asked what happened. And no one would tell me anything," Carl says looking down at the ground.

Fiona sighs. "We wanted to protect you."

Carl looks up at his sister. "I can handle it. I've dealt with Frank and Monica."

Carl can hear his brother taking a deep breath, "Yeah, but this is different. This is Ian."

Ned is clearing his throat. "I think I'm going to leave."

Fiona nods her head, "Yeah okay. I'll call you tomorrow."

Ned quickly leaves and Fiona motions for Carl to sit down at the kitchen table, and Lip does the same. Mickey goes to the fridge and takes out four beers. He hands Fiona and Lip one before he gives one to Carl.

Carl looks at his sister who doesn't look like she's gonna object "Really? You're letting me drink a whole beer." Carl takes a large sip but then fear sets in, "Ian's not dying is he?"

"What?! Why would you think that?" Fiona asks taking a sip out of her own beer.

Carl looks at the sad faces of his siblings and Mickey, "it's just that you always give me a hard about drinking. Always say I'm too young."

Fiona nods her head. "You're right you're are. But, the way I look at it. If you're old enough to threaten some kid into hacking into the police data base then you're old enough to have a beer."

Carl gives Fiona a small smile. Finally, she sees that he's not a kid.

"We don't want a repeat performance of Daniel Wu. What do you want to know?" Lip asks abruptly.

Carl takes a deep breath. He wants to know everything. "Everything."

He can hear a collectively sigh in the room.

Fiona takes a large sip of beer before she puts a piece of hair behind her ear, "Drew O'Connor and Jake Fisher saw Ian leave a gay bar, the Rainbow Mushroom or something. Anyways, they were up there looking to knock off some rich fucks. They recognized Ian and went back home to get Pauly DelVichio, Matt Thomas, and Sean Renchinski." She stops not being able to continue.

"Then what?"

Lip continues. "Ned would say later that he thought he saw Drew and Jake watching them when they were on the terrace outside, but he says he was always paranoid. Afraid that his ex-wife was out to get him. And what better way was to peg him as a pedophile. They went to another bar. The Waterfall or something and had some drinks. At around one Ned took a cab back to his hotel and Ian walked to the EL."

"As you probably know they caught up to Ian. They dragged him into an alley." Mickey starts. "They um…kicked him with steel boots breaking four ribs and his sternum. That didn't stop them, they went on to fracture his skull and break his noise and cheekbone." Mickey stops and takes a sip of his beer. "Before he passed out, guess he tried getting away."

Fiona lets out a sob. Putting her beer down and grabbing a bottle of vodka. Swiftly pouring herself a shot and swallowing. She pours one for Mickey and Lip. Both boys take it.

Mickey slams the shot glass down, "They ah… one of them must have slammed their foot down on his hand. That's why his fingers and hand are so fucked up."

Carl takes a long sip of his beer, "I don't get it?"

"Get what, monkey?" Fiona asks sitting back down across from her brother.

"After what Ned did, leaving when he knew those douches were watching them. How can you stand him? Take his help?"

"That's what I'm saying," Lip mutters. Fiona slaps him in the shoulder.

She grabs Carl's hands and holds them tight. "Listen kiddo, I'm no fan of Ned. I think he's an ass. Fucking boys half his age. Believe me. I want to hurt him. Knowing how he left Ian so vulnerable."

Carl looks up confused, "Then why do you let him come around?"

Fiona sighs again "Because as much of a douche he is, he's also a Grade A doc. He has the connections to get Ian what he needs."

"Yeah. But, if it wasn't for him-"

Fiona shakes her head. "That's done. I hate what he did too, but he's our best hope for Ian."

"Yeah, bruiser. I want to kick that ass' face in whenever I see him but if keeping him around helps Ian so be it," Lip adds. "Granted I won't make it easy for that pedo fucker."

Carl shakes his head, "But, you guys are always talking about pride. Isn't that being a sellout letting him off easy?"

"There's a difference between having pride and being smart. If Ian can get the help he needs then fuck pride," Fiona says.

Carl thinks, taking a sip of his beer. He feels an elbow in his side. "There's pride and then there's Ian. I vote for Ian." Mickey says quietly.

"Can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Mickey," Lip says.

Fiona nods holding her beer up for a toast. Carl, Lip, and Mickey raise their beers respectively. " To Ian!"

**Option 1 will be the next chapter. Let me know If you have any ideas for future chapters.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: I just wanted to say how truly awesome you guys are! It really warms my heart whenever I see another alert, favorite, or review for this story in my inbox. To help clarify any confusion, this chapter fast forwards quite a bit from the last couple. Just keep that in mind. Thanks again for the ideas, keep them coming!**

**Changed-Chapter 8**

"We're all out of children's Tylenol."

Ian looks up from his notebook to see his older sister standing in his bedroom doorway, Liam perched on her hip. "What?"

"Used the last of it this morning," Fiona clarifies as she shuffles the restless toddler in her arms, whispering soothing words in her baby brother's ear.

Witnessing his little brother's distress, Ian lowers his pencil. "Carl can r-run out and get s-s-some,"

Fiona shakes her head, laughing sarcastically. "No way! He's still in the dog house after that stunt with the nail gun."

"Debs?" Ian tries.

Fiona shakes her head again, "She's baby-sitting over at the Ryan's."

Liam's cries pull at Ian's heartstrings."I can stay with him, y-you run out."

Fiona nods her head, "Okay, that'll work." She goes to hand Liam over to Ian but the toddler wants none of that. He cries out, grasping Fiona's sleeve firmly in his tiny fists.

"You're gonna have to run out," Fiona sighs, pulling the fever ridden child to her chest.

Ian's eyes go huge, "M-me? I-I can't, Fiona."

Fiona shakes her head, "You have to, Ian." She says as she bounces the fussy child up and down in hopes of calming him down, "Have no other choice here."

"B-but." Ian stutters but stops, trying to get a grasp on what he wants to say.

"You'll be fine," Fiona says with as much conviction as she can muster because he will be fine walking to the store to pick up some Tylenol. He has to be. They didn't come all this way to let him hideaway in their house, away from peering eyes and nosey southsiders.

Fiona gives her a brother a small smile. She's holding in her sigh when she looks at Ian. Looking at him now no would be able to tell that he was nearly beaten to death almost a year ago. He barely walks with a limp. And thanks to Dr. Riley the new hearing aid is only noticeable if one looks for it. Hell, even the seizures have leveled out, Ian hasn't had one in close to two months.

There's no medical reason for Ian to hide, except for Ian himself.

Liam starts to cry even louder, Fiona tries to calm her baby brother. "Please, Ian" she begs.

Seeing her brother's misery, Ian relents. "Fine, "I'll go."

She can't but smile as Ian follows her downstairs, oblivious to his sister's manipulation. "You have money?"

Ian nods his head and quickly leaves the house. Probably figures the quicker he leaves, the quicker he can get back.

When the door closes, Carl looks up from the couch as Fiona places a much calmer Liam on the couch. "Where's he going?"

"Getting Liam some children's Tylenol," Fiona replies going into the kitchen.

Carl looks at his older sister in confusion, when she comes back into the room with a popsicle. "Didn't Debbie get some before she went over to the Ryan's?"

She gives the toddler the red, cold treat and rubs his head affectionately. "Good job, monkey."

Fiona turns back to Carl. "He needs to get out of the house. So….I gave him a little motivation."

"More like you played him," Carl snickers as he turns his attention back to the television.

"It's for his own good," Fiona says as she takes out her phone.

"Whatcha doing?" Carl asks.

"Making sure no one fucks with him," Fiona replies as she places the cell phone to her ear.

**XXXXX**

Mandy zips up her jacket as she exits the liquor store. Something familiar grabs her attention. She knows that redhead anywhere. She can't help but smile, it's so good to see her best friend out of the house. Her joy in seeing her best friend venturing outside of the house has all her attention that she doesn't notice the three shitheads, AKA Timmy Ryan, and the Mahoney brothers, coming up the street until she hears them.

"Hey retard, aren't you gonna answer us?" Timmy Ryan yells, moving closer to Ian.

"Yeah, heard you were dumb and deaf," Dave Mahoney snickers.

"And a fag," Timmy says with disgust.

From her post Mandy can see Ian is shaking his head as he tries to sidestep his way around them.

But then Nate Mahoney steps in, preventing Ian's escape. "Surprise they let you out of the house without a baby-sitter, butt pirate."

Mandy's torn. Should she step in or let Ian fight his own battle? They do live in the southside and shit like this is stuff that Ian is gonna have to face.

So with that said, Mandy stays where she is, out of sight. And stays quiet….for now.

Ian's not saying anything. Mandy's guessing that he's trying to string together what he's about to say before he speaks.

"Fuck off," Ian hisses out, clear as day. Mandy can't help but fucking grin.

"What the fuck did ya just say?" Nate barks out as he pushes Ian to the ground.

Ian lets out a pained gasp as Dave lands a hard kick to Ian's ribs. Mandy's ready to pounce. But then she hears a very familiar voice, "What the fuck you doin?" Mickey's rushing towards Ian and the three soon to be dead idiots. Ian is already up, but that doesn't seem to lessen the anger that Mandy know is pulsing through her older brother's veins for they have broken the coveted rule when it comes to Mickey. You don't mess with what's his.

"You touch him again and you're dead," Mickey seethes as he stares them down.

"You really think I'm afraid of some fag?" Dave snickers.

Mickey bites his lip before he smiles cruelly, "Fag or not, I can kill kick your asses. Wanna try me?"

Mandy can tell that her brother must have that cold, menacing look on his face that told them he wasn't joking. That even though he is gay, he's not above beating some asshole to a pulp. Or the Mahoney brothers and Timmy Ryan heard how Mickey was able to handle himself down at the Alibi when it came out that Mickey was gay. Whatever the reason was, the three of them took a collective step back. But, there retreat is suddenly halted when Ian throws a hard jab at Dave Mahoney's face.

"May be gay, but I'm no pussy," Ian says as Dave stumbles backwards into his friends.

Mandy has to stifle her laughter as she sees Timmy and the Mahoney's make their retreat. Luckily, her presence goes unnoticed as Mickey quietly asks Ian if he's okay. The redhead sheepishly nods his head saying he's fine before they start to walk side by side down the street. When they are out of sight, Mandy finally comes out of her hiding place with a Cheshire grin on her face.

**My plan for the next chapter is to have the scene that I alluded to in this chapter. The one where Mickey comes out. Let me know what else you guys would like to see!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: Thanks again for all of your support! **

**Changed-Chapter 9**

Debbie Gallagher swiftly makes her way down the grossly over decorated hallway to the twenty-eighth floor to room 2815. She can't help but pat herself on the back and smile. All it took was a few well timed tears and a sob story about looking for her father to get the concierge to divulge the room number of Ned Lishman, Suckers! Her siblings would be proud. After all it's because of her siblings that she's here.

Once she reaches the door she knocks without hesitation and much to her surprise Ned opens it without even asking who it is.

"Hi? Dana?" The older man asks uncertainly.

"It's Debbie," she corrects to the overly tan man in front of her. How did he get so tan? As far as she knows he hasn't left town the last couple of weeks. Probably spent a shit ton of money on one of those spray tans. She can't help but shaker her head. Rich people waste money on the stupidest things.

"Ohhh! That's right! Sorry Debbie. So what can I do for ya? I already told your sister that I don't know where Jimmy is."

"This isn't about Jimmy. I'm here to talk to you about Ian."

The man doesn't say anything right away. "So are you gonna invite me in or do you want me to talk to you from out here about your fetish for young boys," Debbie says looking up and down the long hallway watching people going in and out of their hotel rooms.

Her threat has the desired effect Ned moves back to let her in. "Make yourself at home," he says uncomfortably.

Debbie walks in and takes a look around the expensive room with the large television screen and inviting king sized bed. No wonder why Ian was attracted to the older man. He was able to give Ian something that Ian wanted but could never get back in the southside.

"Is Ian okay? Dr. Khan hasn't called." Ned asks slightly concerned.

_Is Ian okay? _That's the million dollar question. And more importantly what is the definition of okay. Because she doesn't know if okay is an accurate description of Ian at the moment.

"He's hanging in there," Debbie says truthfully. Because he is. He's awake and is finally off the respirator and out of the ICU. She and Carl finally got to see him for the first time a couple of days ago. Seeing Ian's shy smile did more than any of her siblings reassurances ever could.

Ned looks at her confused. "If he's okay then why are you here?"

Debbie rolls her eyes. "I didn't say that Ian wasn't okay. I said that I came to talk to you about Ian," she clarifies.

"What about?"

"He has a long way to go, right?"

The doctor runs his hand through his short hair, sighing. "Yeah, he does."Seeing the sad look on the girl's face he tries to make light of the situation. "But, he is doing well all things considered. He's awake. He's breathing on his own. He has retained most of his cognitive function. That's a good sign with the type of TBI he suffered."

Debbie knows that she should be grateful for the fact that Ian is even alive. She knows that Ian was hurt bad and has a long way to go. His difficulty speaking and apparent hearing loss are just two of the hurdles that he has to overcome. Even though she hasn't seen Ian have a seizure she's can tell it must be a scary sight to see based on the whispered conversations she has overheard between her older brother and sister.

"I know that already," Debbie says with a loud sigh. "I did my research."

Ned nods his head understanding but the uncertain look on his face tells Debbie that he's still not sure why she's here in his hotel room. "Jimmy told me you're pretty smart."

Debbie can feel her face reddened in anger when Ned says his son's name. She doesn't want to hear what Jimmy said about her, even if it was a compliment. Not when he ran out on them…again. When the doctors didn't know if Ian was gonna make it and was fighting for his life in the ICU. When Fiona was struggling to keep a reign on Lip from fighting everyone and anyone while the doctors were throwing around terms like intracranial pressure, decompressive craniectomy, and extraventricular drains. Not when Carl and she were ordered upstairs when their relentless questions about Ian became too much for an overtired and emotional Fiona. No, she's doesn't care what Jimmy said about her at all.

"When I was doing research I read that early rehabilitation therapy is the best way for people with TBI's to recover. Now that his injuries are no longer life threatening Ian should be moved to a rehabilitation facility soon."

Ned nods his head waiting to see where she is going with this. Debbie takes out the worn papers from her pocket and hands it to the older man. "I made a list of the best ones."

The physician looks at the papers that are heavily highlighted and filled with notes. "I already have Dr. Khan in contact with some rehab facilities. Placement shouldn't be a problem."

Debbie lights out a huff in aggravation. "It's not just that!"

Ned raises his eyebrow in confusion. "Then what is it?"

Debbie sighs again. Of course he would be oblivious to the elephant in the room. He never had to worry about money. He definitely didn't have to live off of pasta for the last week because Fiona has been cutting back so much to give the hospital whatever they could in fear that Ian might get shipped off to some shitty hospital who don't know how to treat his injuries.

And this is just the beginning. With Ian in the hospital Fiona missed a lot of work so their household income took a major hit. And the bills are just coming in and they are only going to get worse when Ian goes into rehab because the good rehab facilities are freaken expensive.

But Ian is going to get the best care that Ned can buy. He deserves it. Tired of beating around the bush Debbie gets right to her point. "You're gonna pay for Ian's rehab."

The man's eyes go huge. "What?! I can see about getting you guys on a payment plan."

Debbie shakes her head. A payment plan? They're already late on this month's gas. There's no way they're can do a payment plan.

"I don't think so Ned. The way I look at it, you don't have any room to negotiate."

"Really?" Ned says with a condescending smirk.

Debbie returns the smirk with one of her own. "I'm sure that Candice knows that you're gay but I'm pretty sure that she doesn't know that you have a thing for young boys. More importantly that you had a relationship with your son's girlfriend's underage brother."

Ned's jaw drops. "You wouldn't-"

Debbie cuts in. "Or better yet I can just tell Mickey where you've been staying, He's already been itching to get a piece of you. I mean since my brother was with you that night."

One thing that the rich and poor have in common is self-preservation. So it really doesn't surprise Debbie when Ned says, "What do you want me to do?"

Debbie gives him a sly smile. "You're going to take care of Ian's bill at whatever rehab facility he goes into. I'm sure that someone with your standing in the medical profession should have no problem in doing so."

Ned nods his head. "Anything else?" He asks reluctantly.

"Why yes there is. You see Fiona has been missing a lot of work to be at the hospital with Ian, Lip is back at school, and with Jimmy gone we have almost no income coming in. Been living off of pasta and water for the last two weeks."

"And?"

"A generous monthly stipend check would really help us out. You know that way Fiona can be around for Ian's therapy and doctor's appointments. So what do you say? Ian has been your dirty little secret for way too long, you ready to pay up?"

**XXXXX**

Debbie opens the back door to the house expecting a blast of cooler air to welcome her. Fiona has been keeping the thermostat down erally low. But, instead the house is warm and a happy, smiling Fiona is rushing around the kitchen making dinner.

"Pasta again?" Debbie asks as she takes off her gloves and coat.

"Nope," Fiona says as she hands Liam a sippy cup, rustling her brother's hair.

"Fiona's making lasagna," Carl calls from the living room.

"And don't forget we have pie for dessert," Fiona says with a smile walking back to the counter.

Debbie can't help but smile herself when she sees her sister's. It's been way too long since Fiona has smiled.

"Pie?"

"Apple and Pecan," Fiona says as she takes out a loaf of garlic bread from the oven.

The sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs stops Debbie from saying anything else.

"Nice shower?" Fiona asks.

Lip nods his head as he takes a seat at the table. "Yeah, it was nice not having to worry about freezing my balls off."

Fiona laughs. "Well, hopefully we won't have to worry about that again for awhile," she says as she brings over the lasagna to the table.

"We won't?" Lip asks with a quizzical frown holding his plate up as Fiona dishes up a large helping.

"Nope." Fiona says she continues serving the rest of the family. "Jimmy's dad came by with some money today. Said he's gonna get Ian into Chicago Specialist Rehab In the next week or so He said he's gonna pay for it."

"The one that specializes in severe traumatic brain injuries?" Lip asks as he takes a bite of his lasagna.

"Yeah, and he said that he's gonna give us money every month. He knows that we're hurting because of Jimmy taking off, you in school, and Ian being in the hospital."

Debbie can't help but smirk. She did it.

With a mouth full of food. Lip adds "Guess it's the least he owes us all things considering."

"So eat up!" Fiona says digging into her own plate of food.

"Don't forget to save some for Mickey," Carl says with a mouth full of food.

Debbie bites her lip. It's only seven, Mickey won't be making an appearance until much later after he drinks his fill at the Alibi.

"Don't worry bud, we'll save him some." Fiona reassures.

Debbie eagerly starts shoveling the delicious food into her mouth. The food tastes great. Maybe it's because all they had the last two weeks was pasta and butter. Or maybe it tastes better because she knows that this time it was her who took care of her family. Who took care of Ian.

**I hope you guys liked this. I was all set to do either a Vee or Kev chapter, but then the idea of Debbie confronting Ned came to me. So voila!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: I know it's summer and some people kinda hit a depression because of our show's long hiatus, but I hope you guys are still enjoying this little story.**

**Changed-Chapter 10**

Vee maneuvers the bags over her shoulders so she can get a better grip on her phone "Yeah, Fi. I got the green hoodie."

"_And the batteries for his PSP?"_

"Yeah and I picked up the bag of food from Sheila's that she made him," Vee says with a roll of her eyes. She's not stupid. She can handle dropping off a bunch of stuff to Ian.

"_Good. Ian loves Sheila's chipotle pulled pork fajitas. Kelly said that he didn't eat breakfast again. I'm hoping that maybe some of Sheila's cooking will get him to eat."_

Vee nods her head silently agreeing with her friend. She silently listens as Fiona talks about Ian's lack of appetite. She's heard all of this before, but she also knows that she's basically the young woman's only sounding board, so she remains quiet.

"I got everything, Fiona. Do what you need to do."

"_I know. I just feel bad, putting this on you. Ian's been asking for this stuff and I couldn't get there yesterday because I worked a double. Lip has an appointment at school. And god help me I have Mandy at the house looking after the boys. Now I have this stuff at school with Debbie. Debbie, Vee!"_

The utter exhaustion in her friend's voice is only outweighed by confusion. Then again getting called into school for Debbie is one hell of a shocker. No one can get their head around it. When Ian landed in the hospital everyone expected Carl to act up and for awhile he did. But, after the whole Wu thing Carl has calmed down. No, it's Debbie's erratic behavior that has everyone on edge.

"Well, look on the bright side. After all the shit the boys have put you through, whatever Debbie has done can't be too bad." Vee tries to reassure her friend as she exits the hospital elevator.

Fiona sighs over the phone. _"I'll let you go. Thanks again, Vee. Give Ian a kiss for me."_

"Will do, I'll see you later." Vee says as she ends the call.

The sound of voices greets her just as she's about to enter Ian's room. There are always people in the small hospital room. Nurses, doctors, therapists, and much to everyone's dismay and annoyance Jimmy's father. But, not this time. She can easily make out the familiar, stuttering voice of Ian, but she can also make out the voice of the other person in the room. It's the voice that everyone in the Southside knows. It's a voice full of profanity and is usually laced with threats._ Jesus. What the fuck is Mickey Milkovich doing here?_

Shit! Is he here to finish off what those assholes started? Everyone knows what homophobes the Milkoviches are and now with everyone in the neighborhood knowing about Ian, did Terry send his youngest son to finish what Jake Fisher and his friends started almost two months ago? Can Mickey possibly be that stupid to go after Ian in the hospital?

Vee already has one earring out in preparation to go all mother bear on Mickey when the sound of Ian's laughter stops her. What the hell?

She tentatively peeks her head into the doorway to get a better sense of what's going on in the room. The two boys' eyes are fixated on the small television that Mandy brought the redhead.

"Don't know what the fuck you think is so funny there, Gallagher. Liam has a better jump shot than half of the Bulls starting line up."

When the hell did Ian and Mickey become friends? Yeah, they've worked together at the Kash n'Grab, but she's never seen them hanging out together.

"R-r-r-re-re-l-l-ax-ax. O-o-on-on-l-l-l-ly D-dec-em-em-b-b-ber M-m-m-ick," Ian responds.

"Says every Sox fan. Then in April you'll be saying that next year will be their year."

"Cyn-cyn-ic. Sh-sh-it-it-ty-ty f-f-f-an."

"Nah, more like a realist. Hey, you going to eat that burger I brought you from Joe's or what? I'm getting sick and tired of hearing Fiona bitching about you not eating."

"T-t-ry."

"You better do more than that. You're getting way too skinny for my liking. When you get out of here and we can finally fuck again, I don't want some anorexic bitch fucking me."

Vee's eyes go huge. "Fuck me," she whispers. Her shock at what she is being witness to taking full effect when she sees Ian take hold of Mickey's fingers with his good hand and the ex-con doesn't pull away. She quickly moves her head away from the door feeling bad, like she's witnessing something she doesn't have the right to.

"Can I help you?"A nurse interrupts Vee's train of thought.

"Yeah, I'm um…"Vee starts but can't finish. She's still trying to wrap her head around the fact that Ian and Mickey are together.

"Kinda strange, I know. Didn't know what to think the first time he came to visit Ian." The nurse says.

"What?" Vee asks.

The nurse motions to Ian's room. "Ever since Ian has been on this wing, Mickey visits pretty much every day. His visits seem to do Ian a world of good."

What the hell? How long has this been going on?

"Yeah, that's good." Vee replies.

The nurse gives her a small smile. "Do you want me to help you with those?" She asks motioning to the bags that are in her hands.

"Really don't want to interrupt their visit. Can you just say that his sister wanted him to have these," Vee says as she hands the bags over.

The nurse takes the bags. "Sure, no problem."

"Thanks, Have a good one." Vee says as she turns to make her way back to the elevator.

Damn she needs a drink. And she needs to talk to Kev.

**XXXXX**

"Hey, baby.' Kev greets as he walks into their bedroom later that night.

"We need to talk," Vee says as she puts her cup of wine down on the bedside table.

Alarmed, Kev says "Wait a sec, Vee. Is this about the hash brownies? Lip told me the place would air out fast."

"What?" Vee asks. "No this ain't about no damn brownies."

"Oh," Kev says coming farther into their room. "Then what is it?"

"You know how Ian's gay?"

"Baby, hate to say it but everyone around here knows he's gay."

Vee rolls her eyes. "Well, did you know that he and Mickey are together?"

"Mickey Milkovich?" He asks as he takes a seat on the side of the bed.

"The one and only," Vee replies as she takes a sip of her wine.

The look on her man's face tells her that he isn't exactly surprised about the news. "You knew?" She screeches slapping him on the shoulder.

"Fuck, Vee! Why are you hitting me?"

"You knew!"

"It's not like Mickey told me. I kinda had some suspicions."

The look on Vee's face tells him that she wants to know more.

Kev sits down on the bed next to Vee."When Ian first landed in the hospital Mickey was drinking his fill at the Alibi. Like Frank drunk. Was really bad when we didn't know if Ian was gonna make it. Couple of times he was muttering about redheads and firecrotches. Part of me kept saying that he must have been talking about some redheaded girl," Kev explains. "Guess I was wrong. What do you know?"

"I went to the hospital today to drop some things off for Ian. Mickey was there watching a baseball game with him."

"So, maybe they're friends." Kev says innocently.

"Kev! This is Mickey Milkovich we're talking about here. Who would be friends with him? Not to mention his family is the biggest bunch of homophobes around. If anything I would think that Mickey would have been part of the bashing that put Ian in the hospital in the first place, he wouldn't be sitting in Ian's hospital room holding his hand as he's doing commentary with Ian for the Sox game!"

Kev nods his head. "You know we have to keep our mouths shut about this. I don't want to deal with Mickey if he thinks we know about him and Ian. Not to mention…."

"I know that Kev! I'm the one that's been sitting with Fiona for every one of Ian's consultations. I'm well aware what can happen to people who are gay in this neighborhood. I'm not gonna announce it for the whole neighborhood to hear." Vee sighs as she gets herself composed. "You should have seen and heard them, baby. They were joking around, Ian was laughing. This isn't some spur of the moment shit. This is for love you forever shit."

"Jesus," Kev says as she wraps his arms around Vee. It feels like forever since anyone of them really laughed, especially Ian. "So much makes sense now."

"Like why Mickey's been camped out next door and every time anyone asks why they're met with silence. Fiona must know," Vee adds as she nods her head.

Kev goes on. "And Lip. He's usually down at the Alibi when Mickey is and pushes him out the door when he starts to get chatty."

"Jesus. I feel like we just became part of some epic soap opera."

Kev nods his head as he nuzzles Vee's neck. "Mhhhm."

"You do know that now that we know about them that we have to protect them." Vee says. "Well, as much as we can. Shit, if Terry finds out. He'd kill both of them."

Kev moves his head to look at Vee. "Shhh, don't say shit like that. Terry violated parole so he shouldn't be a problem for awhile. I'll do what I can down at the Alibi when Mickey starts flapping his gums. He's with Ian so in my book he's one of us."

Vee nods her head as she places her head on her pillow and snuggles into Kev's side. "Those damn Gallagher's. Sure do know how to pick them."

**I hope you guys liked this. Someone asked for a Kev and Vee chapter so here it is!**

**Chapter 11 Preview: **Now that Vee knows about Ian and Mickey she can't help but feel hurt that Fiona already knew. They tell each other everything. How can Fiona keep something this big from her?


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: I noticed that the response to this story has tapered off quite a bit, I still hope you guys are enjoying it at least half as much as I am writing it!**

**Changed-Chapter 11**

After the shock of finding out that Ian and Mickey are in fact together settles, another feeling sets in for Vee. A feeling of hurt that Vee can't really explain. She knows that she shouldn't feel this way. That Fiona has enough on her plate with everything going on that telling her best friend that her little brother is fucking the neighborhood bad ass is the last thing that Fiona has time for. But, it still hurts. She and Fiona tell each other everything. She and Kev have stuck by the Gallagher's since this whole shitstorm started with Ian. When no one in the neighborhood would acknowledge them except to make a nasty comment about Ian's sexuality, she and Kev's friendship with their neighbors has never wavered. They were too close for that to happen, at least she thought they were.

And it's this irrational feeling that sends Vee next door at nine o'clock the next morning.

"Morning, Vee." Fiona greets her as she walks into the kitchen.

Vee doesn't exchange pleasantries as she walks farther into the room to get a better view of the living room checking to see If Mickey is still there. She doesn't want to have this conversation if he's around. She's relieved when she sees that he's gone.

"Debs and Carl at school?" Vee asks as Fiona pours Vee a cup of coffee.

The younger woman nods her head. "Yep, they just left."

"Where's Lip?"

Fiona shakes her head. "Who knows? He's all over the place with everything going on with Ian. He can be anywhere. School. With Mandy."

"Where's Mickey?" Vee asks.

Vee can see the tension in her friend's body after she asks the question.

"Wh-what? Why would you ask me that?"

"Well, he's only been sleeping on your couch for a month. Thought you would know where your favorite house guest is?" Vee bites out sarcastically.

"Vee, I told you—"

"You haven't told me jack shit!" Vee explodes.

"Wh-what do you want me to say?" Fiona replies raising her voice to Vee's level.

"You mean you don't know if Mickey's at the hospital visiting Ian?"

"Don't know what you're talking about, Vee."Fiona says innocently.

Vee's done with this shit. "Don't play dumb with me, Fiona! I know! I know about Mickey and Ian."

The feign look of innocence on Fiona's face is replaced with one of confusion and fear. "How-how do you know about that?"

Vee takes a seat at the kitchen table next to Liam's high chair. "Mickey was there when I went there to drop the stuff off for Ian."

Fiona nods her head but doesn't say anything as she walks over to the sink to do the dishes from breakfast.

"You're honestly just gonna stand there and not say anything?"

Fiona stops cleaning the frying pan in the sink and throws down the sponge before she turns around to face her friend. "What do you want me to say?!"

"Tell me something, Fi! I thought we tell each other everything. I thought we were family."

Fiona shakes her head."It wasn't my place to tell you!"

"Really!? Was it my place to tell Tyler Pembroke to fuck off when he made that comment that you all would be better off if Ian was killed because that would be better than having a faggot as a brother. Was it Kev's place to kick out Crazy Kenny from the bar when he was talking about finishing off what those assholes started to Ian? We did it because we're family. Us and all of six of you crazy Gallagher's."

Fiona lets out a small smile.

Vee continues. "And that means family stands by each other no matter what's going on. But, that also means you tell each everything. EVERYTHING."

Fiona moves over to the table and takes a seat across from Vee. "I just found out, Vee. I'm still trying to get my head around it. My little brother and fucking Mickey Milkovich." She says as she shakes her head.

"The heart wants what the heart wants. Who the fuck are we to judge that," Vee says in hopes of comforting her friend.

"I know that but Jesus, Vee. Mickey?"

Vee gives her a lopsided family. "Think of all the shit that Jimmy put you through. You mean to tell me that if he showed up here today that you wouldn't take him back?"

Fiona's lack of answer says it all.

"So, um how _did _you find out?" Vee asks.

Fiona's absentmindedly tapping her fingers on her coffee mug. "Woke up one morning to find him passed out on the couch. Lip brought him home. Guess Mickey was spouting off shit about redheads, so Lip got him out of there before anyone could put two and two together I put the pieces together."

Vee nods her head as she listens to her friend. "So, Lip knows?"

Fiona lets out a sarcastic smile. "He's known for awhile. They've been together for years, Vee. Years!"

"Really?" Vee asks.

"Remember when Monica came back with Bob and wanted to take Liam?"

Vee has to think for a second. That feels like forever ago. Before Jimmy left for the first time. Before Ethel ran away. Before Cheryl came to town with Kyle in tow saying kid was Kevin's. Before Jimmy came back married. Before Monica came back again only to slice her wrists in the middle of Thanksgiving dinner. Finally, locating the long ago memory, Vee replies "Yeah?"

"They got together before then."

Vee can't help but be shocked. She whistles loudly "Damn! In the Southside that's like forever. "

"I know! Been a rocky road. Lots of ups and downs."

"Fi, we live in the southside and they're gay. Of course it isn't rainbows and fucking unicorns."

"I know, but Jesus. Mickey?"

"Is it just about sex or something more?" Vee asks.

Fiona shakes her head. "I think it's more than just sex. I mean if it was then I don't think Mickey would be doing what he's been doing."

Vee quirks her eyebrows in confusion, "Like getting hammered every night at the bar?"

"It's not just that, Vee." Fiona sighs. "You should see him with Carl. He's actually pretty good with the kid. A couple of times I had no choice but to leave Liam with and Liam was fine. Hell, he even went with Lip to try and track down Monica. For all the good that did. He visits Ian every day. He's the only one who could get him to eat."

"Damn!" Vee exclaims. "Who would've thought that there was all that underneath the constant layer of dirt and excessive use of obscenities."

Fiona can't help but laugh. "I know, right?"

Vee joins in with Fiona, laughing. "Damn you Gallagher's have a weak spot for those Milkoviches! Is Iggy out of jail? Maybe you can have a triple date?"

"Fuck no!" Fiona says as her laughing dies down. "Thanks, Vee. I feel a lot better now. Been tough keeping all this inside."

Vee nods her head. "I feel like I just became part of a gay soap opera."

Fiona shakes her head. "Nah, more like a club. So you ready to be a member of the 'Ian and Mickey are together secret society'? Sadly there's not a lot of perks. Mainly you keep your mouth shut about the two of them being together. Our main goal is to ensure that Terry doesn't find out."

"Damn right I am." Vee puts her hand over her heart. "As a proud member I swear to keep this secret safe and do everything in my power to ensure that Ian stays safe." Vee quickly adds. "That Mickey stays safe too."

Fiona holds up her own coffee cup in a cheers. "I'll drink to that."

After Vee takes a sip of her lukewarm coffee, she turns to Fiona. "I have one thing to ask since I'm now a member of this secret society, I feel like I should know one important thing."

Fiona bites her lip, nervously. "What?"

"Who tops?" Vee asks with a smile."

"Oh God, Vee. Nor do I know, or more importantly want to know."

"Come on, Fi. You mean to tell me that you haven't been wondering who's been doing the topping since Mickey first passed out on your couch."

Fiona shakes her head.

"Come on, Fi! Who do you think? I sweat it won't leave this table." Fiona still remains stubbornly silent. "Kev and I have a bet going. I say Mickey's a bossy bottom. He says Ian's doing the catching. Got fifty dollars on it."

"I say Mickey's the bottom," Fiona mutters.

Vee gives her a high five. "That's my girl!"

Fiona can't help but laugh again. "All right. That's enough about my little brother's sex life. I'm too sober to talk about this shit."

Vee nods her head. Seeing Fiona laughing, Vee feels better. She and Fiona are once again on the same page. She'll be by her friend's side, helping her and the other Gallagher's with Ian's recovery. She'll be part of the ride in keeping Ian and Mickey's relationship secret. Because like she said they're all family. Black, white, gay, straight, her and Kev, Gallagher…and now Milkovich.

**I know it got a little light hearted near the end, but I think after all that has happened there needed to be some humor. **

**Chapter 12 Preview: **Fiona knows that Mickey cares about Ian. Why else would he have stayed around after everything that has happened? She hears about how kind he is with Ian from the nurses. But, she has never seen it first hand when he's with Ian. She just wishes that the first time she does isn't when Ian is in the midst of a grand mal seizure in the middle of their kitchen.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: So sorry it took so long to get this up. My computer completely died and I had to get a new one. And I also had major formatting issues with this, so if fit's still messed up, I'm sorry. Thanks again you guys for your support and patience!**

**Changed-Chapter 12**

"Hey!" Fiona greets as she enters the kitchen after work. She doesn't see anyone in the kitchen so she moves into the living room where Liam is fully engrossed in watching cartoons on the television. Carl's sitting next to him playing with some slingshot that he scrounged up somewhere, probably got it from Mickey. Fiona bends down over the couch to give the toddler a kiss on the forehead. "Hiya, guys!"

"Fi, Fi." Liam replies.

"How much damage do you think I can do with this?" Carl asks not looking up from the slingshot.

Fiona rolls her eyes. "Good day to you too."

Carl shakes his head. "Nah, it was boring. Didn't get suspended. Hell, didn't even get a detention."

Fiona can't help but smile, "You calming down at your old age?"

"Pitiful, I know." Carl laments.

Fiona can't help but smile. "Where's Debbie?"

"She's over Holly's h-house. Said she'll be back for dinner," comes a voice from the stairs. Fiona looks up with a smile to see Ian coming down the stairs. It's so good to have him home. After being in the hospital for two months and then spending another five in the rehabilitation center, Ian has made tremendous strides and has been deemed fit by some overly priced doctors and specialists to return home. It's only been three days but it feels like how things were like before everything has happened.

Well, not everything is like how it used to be. Ian is now on a shit ton of meds. But, knock on wood Ian hasn't had a seizure since he's been home. And of course, there's Mickey. The permanent house guest for the last six months. He's a common staple at their kitchen table at meal times. Surprisingly enough, the ex-con has also taken Carl under his wing. And Fiona can't quite wrap her head around it but she thinks that's the reason why Carl has been staying out of trouble for the most part. Overall, all things considering Fiona feels like she can finally breathe again for the first time in more than six months.

"Hey, bud." Fiona greets.

"Hey," Ian replies as he playfully shoves Carl's shoulder. "Careful with that. End up knocking your own te-te-eth out."

"Not mine, maybe some one's else's." Carl says with a smile.

Fiona rolls her eyes as she walks into the kitchen to start making dinner. As she's going through the meager contents of the cabinets, she can't help but smile at the sound of her brothers bantering in the other room. Jesus, there's nothing to eat. The check from Jimmy's father won't be coming for a couple of days and until then they're pretty much broke. They just paid the gas bill a couple of days ago and Liam's ear infection put a major dent in their finances. Pasta it is.

She's putting a pot of water on the stove to boil when the door opens.

"Damn! Pasta again?"

Fiona can't help but roll her eyes when she hears Mickey. "Yep, until we get some cash, pasta and tuna are on the menu for the time being."

"I hate tuna," Mickey says.

"Then it's a good thing that we're having pasta tonight then. Better yet if the menu isn't up to your standards then maybe you can help contribute."

Mickey walks over to the fridge and takes out a beer. "Fuck off. I gave you fifty bucks two weeks ago. Not my fault the rugrat is a walking germ and you had to take the snot rag to the clinic."

Fiona rolls her eyes as she outs the pasta into the water. She knows that she isn't really being fair to Mickey. In fact the ex-con has made consistent contributions to the squirrel fund. Mickey has also been a huge help with things other than contributing to the Gallagher family finances. Not only with keeping Carl out of trouble, but anyone who isn't bind can clearly see how his presence alone has done wonders for Ian, both physically and emotionally.

"Just drink your beer. You tend to be a lot nicer a few drinks in," Fiona says with a scowl.

"Already on it," Mickey says as he pops the top to his beer and takes a swig. Looking into the living room Mickey calls out. "Yo, assface. Did you do those exercises Pam wanted you to do?

"Hi to you t-t-to Mick," Ian replies as he makes his way from the couch into the kitchen.

Mickey takes another long sip of his beer, "Fuck off, Gallagher."

Ian flips him off as he opens the refrigerator door to grab himself some juice. Just as Mickey takes out a glass from the cabinet for the redhead the sound of breaking glass can be heard.

"Jesus!"

"Fuck!"

"Carl!"

For a few seconds the only things that can be heard are Liam's giggling and Carl's exclamation "That's so cool! I CAN do some real damage with this thing!"

"Jesus, I thought that my house was nuts," Mickey says as Fiona rolls her eyes.

"That better not have been the tv," Fiona warns as she glares at Mickey.

"What?!" Mickey walks into the living room to see the damage that Carl has inflicted. "I was told to keep the nutcase out of trouble, Figured that a slingshot will do less damage than a freaken gun."

The ex-con feels relieved when he sees that the only casualty was that dumb ass picture of Lip.

"Relax, he only broke that stupid ass picture of Lip," Mickey says as he finishes off his beer and belches loudly.

Fiona shakes her head at him in disgust. "You're damn lucky."

Mickey waves her off as he takes another beer from the fridge.

"Another?" Fiona asks as she opens the jar of sauce.

Now it's Mickey's turn to roll his eyes. "Fuck off, who are you my mother?"

"Lucky for you I'm not."

Mickey gives her the finger. He then turns to Ian, "Hey, you wanna-"

Fiona looks up from the stove in alarm when the bottle of juice crashes onto the floor. "Ian? You okay?" But when her eyes settle on her brother she can see he's anything but. His right arm is jerking uncontrollably. She has seen way too many of Ian's seizures. She knows what the warning signs are before he has one….

"Ian!"

Mickey's reflexes are quicker than hers for he already has Ian lowered to the ground before the seizure takes full effect.

"Fuck!"

"Watch his head!" Fiona calls out as she grabs a couple of dish towels.

"I know! I know!" Mickey says as he carefully maneuvers Ian away from the refrigerator. He grabs the dish towels from Fiona and cautiously places them under Ian's seizing head.

"What's going on?" Carl asks from the doorway with Liam at his side.

Fiona looks up from Ian's shaking body to see the two frightened faces of her youngest brothers. Liam probably doesn't have much of a clue of what's going on. On the other hand, Carl has heard about the seizures. But unlike her, Mickey, and Lip, he has never seen Ian have one. That is until now.

"Ian's gonna be okay," Fiona tries to reassure her brothers. "Do me a favor? Go upstairs and get some blankets and a pillow. He's gonna sleep for a while after this."

"But-"

Fiona gives Carl a small smile. "It's ok. We got this. Go!"

Carl nods his head and quickly climbs the stairs with Liam hot on his heels. With the two youngest ones okay for the moment, she turns back to Ian and Mickey.

"You timing this?" She asks. Looking at the clock on the wall.

"Two minutes, thirty-seven seconds," Mickey says softly as he looks down at Ian.

"Okay, okay. That's okay as long as it doesn't last-"

"For more than five minutes," Mickey finishes. "If it lasts longer than that, gotta call 911."

Fiona gives him a look. She thinks for a second back to all the meetings she and Lip had with Ian's neurologist. Mickey wasn't there for any of them, so how does he know this stuff? "How do you know that?"

"I know, okay?" Mickey bites out, not taking his eyes off of Ian.

Fiona wants to ask how he knows. But the tone in Mickey's voice tells her to drop it. To just leave it at that. Fiona nods her head. She walks over to the laundry basket to get Ian a change of pants after she sees a wet stain appear down the leg of Ian's pants. When she returns to her brother's side the seizure has finally stopped, she sighs in relief.

"We gotta-"Fiona starts but stops when she sees that Mickey has already placed Ian on his side. Just like the doctors told them to do after Ian has a seizure. What the hell?

The sound of boiling water overflowing breaks the silence.

"Shit!" She curses as she rushes to the stove to turn the burner down. With dinner saved for the moment, Fiona turns back to Ian. "I can uh…get him out of those clothes. You don't need to."

Mickey looks up at Fiona. "I got him. Finish making the kids supper. They're probably already freaked out big time, "Mickey says quietly.

The sadness in the ex-con's voice causes Fiona to take a good look at the pair on the kitchen floor. She can't help but stand there like a deer caught in headlights when she sees Mickey running his fingers through her brother's hair. The uncharacteristic display of affection by Mickey is something that she has never seen before.

Sure there have been a couple of times where she saw Ian initiate contact with the ex-con, with ether a quick kiss or a light squeeze of his hand. But, not many. And often such gestures were met with either a hasty retreat or a "Fuck off, Ian." So to see this….Fiona can't help but be awestruck.

"Don't look at me like that. Finish making them their damn dinner," Mickey barks.

And just like that Mickey goes back to being the asshole that everyone thinks he is.

Fiona nods her head but remains silent as she finishes up making dinner as Mickey carefully changes Ian out of his wet pants. She's bringing plates and cups to the table when she hears Mickey breaking the silence.

"Hey? Gallagher?"

"Ian?" Fiona says as she rushes to kneel by Ian's side.

The redhead's eyes opens to half slits and he's looking around his surroundings drowsily. "Wh-what happened?"

Fiona bites her lip. "You had a seizure, kiddo."

Ian's eyes open and his body tenses when he hears what just happened. "Wh-wh?"

"Hey, you're okay." Mickey cuts in. He looks up at Fiona. What he says next is more of a question directed at her than a statement to her younger brother. "We gotcha?"

And at that moment it's like everything just….clicks. She's known about Ian and Mickey for months. She's heard Vee's story about what her friend saw between them at the hospital. The nurses at both the hospital and rehabilitation center have told her how sweet the ex-con is with her brother. Hell, she even heard from Carl and Debbie how it was Mickey who was able to calm Ian down when Monica showed up again. Even after hearing all these tales she couldn't help but feel skeptical about her brother's and Mickey's relationship. For she hasn't really seen them interacting like a couple. She just chalked it up to the fact that Ian cares, probably too much for his own good. And Mickey was just along for the ride. But after helping Ian through his seizure. After Mickey basically asked her if they're in this together. She knows they're for real. And she feels like a giant asshole for not seeing it before. Why was she literally the last to see what was in front of her face the whole time?

Fiona nods her head and gives Mickey a reassuring smile as she squeezes Ian's knee." You're okay. We gotcha."

The tension seems to leave Ian at that moment. He closes his eyes.

Carl comes back to the kitchen. He sighs in relief when he sees that the seizure is over. "Couch is all set."

"Thanks, bud." Fiona says as she comes over and ruffles his hair. She picks up Liam who is standing besides Carl. "Who do you have here?" Fiona asks when she sees the stuffed turtle in the toddler's hand. But, she knows exactly what it is. It's the same stuffed turtle that Ian got for Liam for his last birthday. The last Gallagher birthday celebration before everything went to shit. "For Ee-an," Liam says with a smile.

And for what feels like the millionith time over the last seventh months she can feel tears in her eyes. She kisses her brother's sticky cheek. "He'll love it! Why don't you put it on the couch for when he lays down. OKay, milkdud?" She puts Liam back down and he runs to place the stuffed animal on the couch. After he places it on the pillow he looks at his older sister proudly

"Good job!" Fiona exclaims. She turns back to Carl. "Dinner will be ready in a couple. Why don't you go wash Liam up?"

Carl nods his head and once again he disappears back upstairs with Liam at his side.

With the youngest Gallagher's out of the sight, Mickey nudges Ian's shoulder. "Hey, you wanna get up and lay on the couch?"

Ian nods his head. "Yeah, wanna sleep," Ian slurs tiredly.

Mickey nods his head as he lifts the redhead to his feet in one move. Fiona goes to help Mickey, but the way her brother moves his head to rest on Mickey's shoulder tells her that her help isn't needed at the moment. When Ian starts to stumble out of the ex-con's hold, she can't help but start to rush to the pair's side. But, before she can even get there Mickey has already pulled Ian up and whispers loud enough for Fiona to hear. "Shhh, it's okay, Ian. I gotcha."

And Fiona knows he does. So she turns back around and finishes bringing supper to the table. And a couple minutes later when she, Liam, Carl, Debbie, and Mickey are eating dinner she tries not to smile when she sees that Mickey sits where he can see Ian sleeping on the couch. She has to fight even harder to hide the smile when Mickey turns to the living room whenever Ian moves in his sleep.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Carl asks through a mouthful of pasta.

"Yeah, you're really freaking me out here." Debbie adds.

Fiona looks over at Mickey who's attention is once again directed towards the living room.

"Nothing," Fiona says as she takes another bite. "Eat your supper."

Carl and Debbie just shake their heads as they continue eating as Mickey continues to watch over Ian, and Fiona watches over all of them.

**Hope you guys enjoyed it. I have just always pictured Fiona being one of the last to see how deep the relationship between Ian and Mickey really is. Also, that part with Liam and the stuffed animal was a last minute addition. I hope it worked for you guys. I'm thinking of doing the scene where Carl and Liam are upstairs during this chapter for chapter 13. Carl talking to Liam about what's going on. And Liam being his adorable self. What do you guys think?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I don't own Shameless.**

**A/N1: I bet many of you thought that I forgot about this, but I haven't! I just hit a dry spell, but inspiration finally hit. This story is major AU after 3.04. The kids were never put in social services, so the stuff that has happened as a result of that has not happened here (i.e. the sleepover and the famous morning after events in 3.06).**

**A/N2: This chapter is for Annie Rules who wished to see what happened to Ian. With that in mind, this chapter trigger and the rating for this story moved up to M.**

**Changed-Chapter 13**

Lip strolls into his own bedroom. He needs Ian's biology textbook. He's doing the take home test for a sophomore and the damn thing needs text evidence to support the answers. When Lip walks into the room he spots his brother sulking on his bed, angrily sharpening his RPTC switchblade. Is he taking lessons from Carl?

"What's wrong with you?"

Ian lets out a huff. "Nothing,"

Lip snickers and rolls his eyes, "Bullshit. Trouble with Mickey?"

The redhead doesn't answer him, but looks down into his lap. A telltale sign that Lip hit a nerve. "What? He fuck Angie Zago again?"

Ian remains silent as Lip continues. "Or maybe Jen Kerrigan. I saw her and her cousin hanging around Mickey and his brother at the park yesterday."

The younger boy looks up with sad eyes. Damn it! Why did his brother have to fall for freaken Mickey Milkovich? Then again he should be the one to talk, Mandy has all but changed her address to the Gallagher's residence as of late. What the hell hold does that family have on the Gallagher's? 

"Really? Jen Kerrigan?" Ian asks sadly.

Lip nods his head, "Sorry, man. But, hey if he's out doing whatever or should I say whoever, I say you should do the same. Preferably someone who doesn't have an AARP membership. Forget about both Mickey and Ned."

Ian's phone beeps and smiles when he reads his screen. He gets up and starts rummaging through the basket of clean laundry.

"You good?" Lip asks.

Ian looks up from the clothes basket. "I'm going out."

Lip rolls his eyes. "Ned or Mickey?"

"Ned," Ian replies.

"At least I won't have to worry about you being arrested for a felony. The squirrel fund really can't afford to take another hit after Fiona's last failed entrepreneurship attempt."

Ian shakes his head as he leaves the bedroom, giving his brother the finger on his way out.

**XXXXX**

Despite copious amounts of alcohol and his best efforts to forget about his earlier altercation with Mickey, Ian is not having a good time. Ian knew about Angie Zago. Mickey even admitted to banging her, but Ian stupidly thought she was it. Then Lip told her about Jen and her ugly ass cousin Heather. And there's also last night when Ian texted Mickey about meeting up and the ex-con replied with "got stuff to do." Then there's what happened earlier today at the store.

_Ian rolls his eyes when Mickey struts in over an hour late for his shift. "Late night?"_

_The older boy smirks, "Guess you can say that."_

"_Did you fuck Angie Zago again?"_

_Mickey shrugs his shoulders, "So what if I did? Who gives a shit who I bang? Hell, I walked in on you doing that douche under the bleachers."_

"_That's different. I-"_

"_You bang, I bang. Sometimes we bang each other. It's no big deal," Mickey says as he grabs a beer from the cooler._

Ian thought that after Mickey got out of juvie the second time that things would be different. Hell, he came to the school and said he missed Ian. Granted he said that it was because in juvie he had to do the fucking, but still.

"You okay, red?"

Ian nods his head, "I'm fine."

Ned doesn't look convinced. "I say we leave here. I hear there's a good bar nearby, called the White Swallow."

Isn't too sure. He doesn't feel like partying.

"Come on, red. I hear they have great music. I know how much you like music and dancing," Ned says with a smile.

Ian wants to say no. His heart isn't in it, but then he sees Ned's smiling face. "Fine, I guess we can go for a bit."

Ned nods his head and as they're on the way out, Ian feels the unmistakable feeling of someone staring. As he turns his head to see the face of the culprit some part of him hopes to see that it's Mickey. But, instead he sees a head off blonde hair as they duck away.

"You okay?" Ned asks.

Ian shrugs his disappointment off, "Yeah, let's get out of here."

Several hours later, Ian is having a much better time. The music is fantastic. The drinks are delicious and the guys are hot. And beat of all he has forgotten about Mickey's bullshit for the time being. He's inhaling the intoxicating smell of smoke when Ned nudges his shoulder. "I see you're having a better time."

Ian nods his head, but he notices that Ned is twitchy. He keeps looking around. "You okay?"

Ned rubs the middle of his forehead. "It's nothing. Thought I saw someone looking at us. It's probably just me being paranoid. At this point I wouldn't put it past Candace to hire some twink in hopes of bringing my indiscretions into the divorce proceedings."

Ian laughs. He's met Candace on a couple of occasions and wouldn't put it past her either. The redhead puts out his hand, "Come on, let's go back in and dance."

Ned lets Ian lead him back into the bar, looking over his shoulder one last time.

About an hour later the pair are laughing as they leave the bar.

"Sure you don't want to just spend the night at my hotel? You said you were off tomorrow?"

Ian shakes his head. "Fiona got a waitressing gig and I promised to take Debbie to Costco."

"At least let me give you a lift to the El or pay for a cab," Ned offers.

Ian shakes his head again. "Nah, don't worry about it. Your hotel is in the opposite direction of the El and you need to hold on to any cash you have since Candace is out to make you pay," he says with a smirk.

Ned rolls his eyes, "Tonight was fun."

Ian gives him a genuine smile. "Yeah, it was."

"Have a good night, till next time," Ned says.

"See you around," Ian says as he turns and makes his way towards the El stop. The cool autumn air has sobered him up a bit to the point where he can hear people walking behind him. The feet are getting closer and just as he's about to turn around, he's shoved to the ground hard. The alcohol in his system does not help his usually stellar reflexes as he is slow to raise to his hands and knees. Once he gets into that position he feels a sharp kick to the ribs that pushes him back to the ground. Self-preservation kicks in as Ian pushes his legs up against his aching ribs into the fetal position in hopes of protecting his chest and torso from further abuse.

"Yeah, stay down there you damn fairy," A menacing voice cuts through Ian's pain filled gasps. He slowly peeks one eye open and instantly recognizes the blonde haired kid from his neighborhood, Drew O'Connor.

"Sucks to be you. First of all, to have Frank Gallagher as your father is bad enough. Then to be a faggot on top of it. Man you must have really pissed someone off in a past life to be dealt that shitty ass hand," another familiar voice says. It's Drew's best friend, Jake. Just fucking great. If these two are here, Ian's pretty sure that Sean, Pauly, and Matt are around too. This is not good.

"Hey, wait a se-", Ian is cut off when his head snaps back from a brutal kick. In his attempt to protect his vital organs, his head was left wide open. He turns to spit the warm liquid out of his mouth. Through the blood dripping into his eyes he can see a foot coming at his head once again, but because of the pain radiating throughout his throbbing head he is useless to do anything to ward it off. The unmistakable crunch of bones is the last thing Ian hears as his body fades into blessed unconsciousness.

**XXXXX**

It's not the flashing lights or even the relentless banging on the door, but a frightful Fiona shaking him awake "Lip? Lip? Wake up!" that wakes him up. He turns to see the clock by his bed reading 3.51. Damn it's early.

"Leave me alone," he mutters as he rolls away from his sister.

Fiona shakes his shoulder again, this time harder than before. "Tony's downstairs, says he needs to talk to us."

"I don't care what Tony has to say. I don't give a shit about Frank. I want some damn sleep."

"He says it has nothing to do with Frank," Fiona says.

With that said, Lip is instantly awake. Any prelude of going back to sleep is gone. He quickly follows his sister downstairs and sees Tony awkwardly standing in their living room.

"Lip," Tony greets

"What's going on?" Lip asks. No time for pleasantries. It's almost four o'clock in the morning. He looks over at his sister whose hair is a mess and who has her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, she's frazzled.

"Is it Monica?" Fiona asks desperately.

"I think you guys need to sit down," Tony replies, side stepping the question.

Lip is tired and wants to know what the hell is going on right the fuck now. "Jesus! Just fucking tell us!"

Tony nods his head. "I was down at the station doing some paper when I heard about an assault victim. He were beaten really bad. They were getting ready to notify the next of kin, then I heard who it was."

"Oh God!" Fiona exclaims, covering her mouth.

Lip's mind is working overtime. He. Tony said 'he.' Tony said it's not Frank. And he heard the porno coming from fiona's room earlier so it's not Jimmy. Ian. Where the hell is Ian? He left hours and Lip hasn't seen him since. Hasn't heard his clumsy ass falling up the stairs. Fuck.

Lip's fear is confirmed when Tony sadly but simply says, "It's Ian."

"What? Where?"

"Fuck!"

"He was found bear the Belmont station."

"How bad is it, Tony?" Fiona asks, voice cracking.

Tony looks to Lip and then Fiona. "I think you guys need to change and get down to the hospital. I can give you guys a ride down there."

Fiona nods her head and sprints back upstairs. Lip doesn't follow his sister. He noticed how Tony didn't answer Fiona's question of how bad it is. But he needs to know. He needs to prepare himself. "How bad is it?"

Tony doesn't say anything at first and that should have answered his question right there, but Lip needs to hear it. Needs to actually hear Tony say how bad it is, not this beating around the bush crap. "Tony, I need to know."

Tony looks towards the stairs, probably making sure that Fiona is not in earshot. "From what the responding officers said, it's bad. Real bad, Lip."

Lip takes a deep breath. He wanted to hear it. This is what he wanted. Still doesn't make it any easier.

"I think you should have Jimmy cough up some dough and try and track Monica down," Tony says.

"What?" Lip asks confused. "Monica doesn't have a parental bone in her body. She wouldn't be any good to us."

Tony shakes, "I'm not saying that. I'm saying that you should find her so she could…uh…you know?"

No Lip doesn't know. He has a cop here in his house at four o'clock in the morning telling him that his younger brother got the shit beat out of him. He doesn't know much right now and Tony's inability to speak as of late is not helping matters. "What the hell are your trying to say?"

Tony sighs. "I'm saying that you should try and find Monica so she can say good bye."

He feels like all the air in the room has been sucked out. Ian can't die. He's his little brother. Lip is supposed to protect him as much as rag on him. It's always been him and Ian for as far back as he can remember. His breakdown is interrupted when Fiona comes back down with a newly awake Jimmy at her side.

"Hey, why aren't you changed? Jimmy is gonna stay here with the kids when we go down to the hospital."

"Okay," Lip says quietly as he rushes upstairs. He quickly throws on a pair somewhat clean jeans and a shirt. As he is tying his shoes the conversation he had with Ian earlier keeps playing in his head. Saying that at least if he went out with Ned that he wouldn't be arrested. At that moment he would gladly take going to see Ian lockup over this. What the hell has he done?

"Lip!" Fiona calls from halfway up the stairs.

Lip shakes his head. Second guesses and what-ifs are gonna have to wait.

"Coming!" Lip calls as he sprints down the stairs.

**I know this chapter was probably tough to read, but I think it was needed. Throughout "Changed" I always felt that Lip blamed himself. It could have been from not believing that Mickey really cared about Ian, but I saw it as something else. **

**Chapter 14 Preview: **Remember this is now officially an AU fic. Ian is hovering between life and death. Lip has been busy with dealing with doctors and being there for his siblings, but he is still terrified that he's going to lose his brother and best friend. And what do all Gallagher's do when shit goes bad? Good thing Mandy is there to stop him from self-destructing…or is it?


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: I was nervous that I may have lost a few of you because of my infrequent updates, but it looks like you guys are still enjoying it. Thanks again to all of you who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this!**

**Changed-Chapter 14**

Lip is passed the chatting drunken phase. But then again he's been drinking for four hours already. He skipped right over the laughing phase because really what is there to laugh about? He even breezed right through the anger phase because he already been there and done that going after fucking Ned in the hospital, taking both Mandy and Fiona to pry him away from the douchebag. He's definitely can't do the crying phase. Not because he's never been a crier, the last time that he cried was when he was old enough to barely remember. Probably back when Monica left for the first time. But, sadly in all actuality he has the right to cry now. He chugs from the bottle of vodka. His brother is dying. He's lying in the hospital with his skull cracked open and is only clinging to life because of huge advances in the neurosurgery field over the last twenty years.

Part of him wants to lie down in the fetal position and just bawl his eyes out until his body falls into an exhausted sleep. Where he doesn't dream about the 'what if's.' Where he tells Ian to stay home and smoke with him and Mandy and not to go out with Ned. Or the one where Ned insisted on giving Ian a ride home.

The worst of the 'what if's' is the one where Ian doesn't make it. That he loses his fragile grasp on life and dies. With their mother and the boy who has completely wrecked him nowhere in sight. And that 'what if' is by far the scariest because it can very well still happen. The pressure in Ian's head has gone down some, but it's still not where the doctors want it. And the doctors don't know shit. Another gulp of booze. They have no idea what damage Jake Fisher and the other assholes' steel-toed boots had on Ian. Is he gonna wake up with a blank slate of what happened that night but be fine otherwise? Is he gonna be a damn vegetable and never wake up? Another chug of booze. Or is Ian's brain gonna be so damaged that cognitively he would be on the same page as Liam? Fuck. Another drink.

But, he can't dwell on the what if's and Lip most certainly can't cry, so he takes another long sip of booze. He knows damn well if he starts crying, he's not gonna stop. And what good would that do? It definitely won't help when Carl and Debbie keep asking what's going on with Ian because all they know is that he's hurt bad. And is sure as hell won't help Ian right now.

So, no Lip is definitely skipping the crying like a baby phase of drunkenness. He's perfectly content with the falling down, slob drunk phase that he's currently in. It's late, the kids are in bed after another night of late dinner and a relentless barrage of questions such as "What happened?", "Who did it?", "When can we see him?"

The air is biting, it has been since the cold front came though the morning after Ian landed in the hospital five days ago. But Lip would gladly take the chill over the stifling combination of sadness and despair that has taken residence at the Gallagher house as of late.

"Shit!" Lip curses as he drops the lighter as he attempts to light a cigarette and hold the quickly bottle of vodka at the same time.

"Hey, can I have some or are you gonna finish that all by yourself?"

Lip inhales the soothing nicotine as he looks to see Mandy walking up the stairs. He shrugs but still offers her the bottle. Mandy takes a large gulp of the cheap booze and doesn't even flinch at the taste. But, then again just like the Gallagher's, the Milkoviches don't discriminate against booze. Booze is booze.

After a decent amount of silence passes between the two, Mandy breaks in "Anything about Ian?"

The mean, vindictive part of Lip wants to tell Mandy to fuck off. That it's her brother's fault this happened. If Mickey didn't treat Ian like a piece of shit then Ian wouldn't have jumped at the chance to meet up with Jimmy's father. But, Lip knows that it would be wrong. He knows what it's like to take the brunt of someone's anger because of something their family member did. He and his siblings had to face that countless times because of freaken Frank. It's not fair to Mandy. Mandy is Ian's best friend and knows that this is killing her as well. Another sip.

Lip shakes his head, "Nothin' new. Jimmy and Fiona is at the hospital now. I came home to put the kids to bed."

Mandy takes a seat next to him on the weathered step. "He's gonna be okay."

Lip can't help but laugh. Really?! He's going to be fine? Mandy's been one of the few allowed to go in and see Ian. She's seen the endless bandages, tubes, and monitors. The absence of his brother's hair because they had to shave it for the craniectomy. She had to have seen the way the bruises and cuts covered up the freckles that dotted his younger brother's face. The Ian in that sterile, hospital bed is anything but okay. Another chug of alcohol.

"Hey!" Mandy yells as she tries to get the bottle from him. "Slow down!"

But, Lip is done listening. All he has been doing is listening. Listening to the doctors ramble on about brain injuries and their statistics. He's done listening to Ned's sorry ass excuses and as to why he didn't make sure Ian got to the EL okay. He's tired of listening to the assholes who make their snide comments about Ian as he walks through the Southside. And he's certainly not listening to Mandy right now as she tries to curb his alcohol intake.

"Fuck off!" He bites back.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Mandy yells. "You think that you're the only one hurting here? We all love Ian. We all want him to get better."

Lip ignores his girlfriend's outburst as he takes another chug.

"Fine," Mandy huffs as she stands up. "Call me when you want to talk. No, wait. Call me when you're sober. I'm outta here. If I wanted to watch someone get shitfaced I would have stayed home. Mickey's been on one helluva bender the last two days."

The mentioning of Mickey brings Lip's attention away from the bottle of vodka. "Fuck Mickey."

Mandy rolls her eyes as she starts to walk down the stairs.

"Oh wait, Ian does." Lip slurs.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Mandy asks as she turns around to face a smirking Lip.

"They've been fucking for years! All that time you were Ian's beard, he was fucking your brother."

Lip's eyes are glazed and his words are slurred, but Mandy knows he's telling the truth. You don't joke around about something like that in their neighborhood. Ian was proof of that.

"What the fuck?"

"That's right. Mickey Milkovich, son of famed fag basher Terry Milkovich is a fag himself."

Mandy takes a seat once again on the stoop and grabs the nearly empty bottle of vodka. "Fuck me."

"All those times when Ian was moping around because mystery guy was acting like a douche, that was Mickey. The reason why Ian decided to go out with Ned, the same night he got his head bashed in? That's because of Mickey and his damn mixed signals. Fucking Angie Zago or Jen Kerrigan one minute and then meeting up with Ian in the store's cooler an hour later to bang. He had Ian's head so fucked up."

Mandy doesn't say anything, she's letting everything process. Part of her wants to tell Lip to shut up. That he doesn't know what he's talking about. But, the part of her that knows Mickey. Knows how out of sorts he's been over the last couple of days, since Ian landed in the hospital, tells her that Lip is right.

"Hey do you—"Mandy starts to ask Lip but stops when she sees that he's passed out.

"Shit," she curses as she drinks the last of the vodka. What the hell is she gonna do?

**Chapter 15 Options: **

**1. Mandy confronts Mickey of what she found out.**

**2. New Year's Eve and Ian is stuck in the hospital until he gets a reprieve.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Shameless.**

**A/N: I'm so, so sorry! I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this. I got a promotion at work and with that came a lot more work and as a result a lot less time to work on my writing. I also kinda hit a block with this, but then inspiration struck. Hope you guys enjoy! At least though of you who are still with me on this!**

**Changed-Chapter 15**

Lip looks up at the large office building and sighs. He's not intimidated. It takes a lot to intimidate Lip Gallagher. He's born and raised Southside with Monica and Frank Gallagher as his 'parents.' He has the brains to get out of the Southside, but he also has a mouth on him that can easily get his ass kicked. So standing in front of some fancy office building in downtown Chicago on a warmer than usual November day should be a walk in the park.

Wrong. He has this pit in his stomach. The same gut feeling he had when Carl was five and woke up crying when the stomach ache he had earlier in the day turned into a ruptured appendix. It's the same pain that set in when Monica left just weeks after Liam was born. And most recently it's the same sickening feeling that took residence in his stomach when he and Fiona rode with Tony to the hospital in the middle of the night after Ian was attacked. And now he has that feeling again. The feeling of dread of the unknown.

Lip runs his hand through his messier than usual hair. "Fuck it!" What's the worst thing that can happen? Clayton tells him to get out of his face. Clayton hasn't been part of Ian's life for the last sixteen years. And Ian doesn't seem bothered by the fact that Clayton hasn't made an effort to be.

But, this is Lip being selfish in the name of Ian. He couldn't be there for Ian when those assholes beat the shit out of him in that alley. He couldn't do a damn thing when all those doctors were performing their endless neurological and cognitive evaluations. But, he can talk to Clayton. And maybe, just maybe Ian can get a half way decent father figure out of this clusterfuck. It's the least he deserves. And, if new Daddy wants to help throw some bills their way to help pay off the expenses that have accumulated since Ian went into the hospital, he won't object. Anything is better than taking Ned's hush money.

With his mind made up Lip quickly makes his way towards the seventh floor and walks up to the receptionist's desk.

"Welcome to Lowe, Fisher, and Associates. Can I help?" A pretty brunette asks.

"Yeah, can I see Clayton Gallagher?"

"Do you have an appointment?"

Lip shakes his head, "No. I just-"

The receptionist interrupts him. "I'm sorry, sir, but Mr. Gallagher has appointments all day."

"Listen, I just-"

The brunette cuts in again. "I'm sorry, but you really need to make an appointment."

The pit that was in Lip's stomach earlier is now being replaced with a feeling of aggravation. "Listen, I need to talk to Clayton. It's important."

The bitch receptionist is about to cut him off again but before she can, Lip says "It's about his son."

"It's about Jacob?"

"It's about his son," Lip answers.

The woman nods her head and talks into her earpiece, "Mr. Gallagher? I have someone who will like to speak with you. Yes, says it's about your son…Okay."

"He'll be out in just a second."

The prick part of Lip can't wait to see Clayton's face when he sees that it's Lip requesting to see him. But he doesn't have much time to contemplate because not even a minute later and eerily older version of Ian is just feet away.

"Tracy?" He asks.

The bitch receptionist motions to Lip.

"Hi, Clayton." Lip greets.

Clayton looks flustered. Like Ian did when he was twelve and walked in on a half-naked Lip and Sara McFarland. The older man awkwardly clears his throat. "Lip…I uh…uh wasn't expecting you."

Lip can't help but smile mischievously. Obviously, the older man wouldn't expect to see his nephew who also happens to be his illegitimate son's older brother in his office place. "Yeah, well after our last meeting I didn't want to go to your house and risk the chance of seeing your pitbull of a wife."

Clayton nods in understanding and turns to the receptionist. "Hold my calls and my three o'clock."

Tracy nods her head, "Sure thing, Mr. Gallagher."

Clayton motions for Lip to follow him. "How's Monica?"

"Still gone," Lip says flatly.

"And Frank?" Clayton asks politely.

"Okay. Passed him sleeping on park bench on my way to the EL."

"Some things don't change," Clayton says as he stops at a corner office. "Here, come in."

Lip takes a second to admire the spacious office. Glass tables. Leather chairs and couches. What the hell was Ian thinking not going for this?

"Can I get you something to drink?" Clayton asks.

"Scotch?"

"For my underage nephew?" Clayton quips.

"No for the older brother of your illegitimate kid you had with your brother's wife," Lip bites back.

"Fair enough," Clayton says as he pours both of them a drink. He hands Lip his and motions for him to sit down.

Clayton takes the chair across from his nephew. "So, what's new?"

Lip looks at his uncle dumbfounded. His nephew shows up in his fancy office out of the blue and all he asks is 'what's new?' Before he realizes it, he starts to laugh. He can't stop.

Clayton waits a bit before he ventures again. "Look, Lip. I'm happy to see you, but I'm just wondering what brought you here. Now? After all this time?"

Lip looks at the freckled face in front of him and for a second he doesn't see his uncle. He sees Ian lying in a hospital bed. Struggling with his words. Watching his brother's pale face contort as he suffers from another seizure. Ian. That's what brought him here.

He stops laughing and looks down at his hands in his lap. Where does he start? Does he tell Clayton that the son he only met once is gay and was nearly beaten to death because of it? Does he start with how much of an awesome kid Ian is and that Clayton is an ass for not wanting to get to know he after he and Ian showed up at his place over a year ago?

"I'm here because of Ian," Lip says quietly.

"What's going on with Ian?" Clayton prompts. "is he in some kind of trouble?"

Lip takes a deep breath. He hasn't told this story in a while. Not since he and Fiona told the younger kids. "Ian was beaten up awhile back. He…." Lip has to stop for a second when he sees the familiar sad look in his uncle's eyes. Everyone thought Ian looked like Monica, but at this moment Lip would beg to differ. "He…Um. It was very bad. Iocs didn't think he was gonna make it. Internal bleeding. Fractured skull."

"He okay now?" Clayton asks sincerely.

"He's still recovering. He suffered a traumatic brain injury."

Clayton doesn't say anything for a minute but takes a long sip of his drink. Lip can't stomach drinking his no doubt incredibly expensive drink at the moment.

"Where is he now?" Clayton finally asks.

"Still in the hospital. We're waiting to get him a placement in a rehabilitation center that specializes in TBI's."

Clayton bites his lip. "I'm sorry, Lip. I'm really sorry."

Lip came into this building today to hear those very words, but now after hearing them, they fall short.

"I should have made an effort after you guys came to the house. Always thought I would have time," Clayton explains.

"There still is. Ian has a long road in front of him. He has people who love him, but he could always use another person in his corner. Can never have too many of that."

"I want to help," Clayton says.

"But, listen. You're doing this for Ian. Not for you. That kid has been shit on his whole life. If you're just going to show up and fuck things up don't bother. We got this. I just figured that it's not right that Ian almost died and you his own father don't even know him."

"You're right"

"Damn right I am," Lip says as he takes a sip of his own drink.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, tell me about Ian. Tell me about my son," Clayton says as he sits back in his chair.

Lip smiles. Oh where should he start?

**XXXXX**

Lip is pushing his spaghetti around on his plate. It's been two days since he left Clayton's office. He left his uncle's work on good terms after nearly talking an hour about the family, well mostly about Ian. They exchanged numbers, but since then Lip hasn't heard anything from his uncle. His plan was a bust. Fuck Clayton. Fuck all the Gallagher brothers. Good for nothing pieces of shit.

"Can I have your spaghetti?" Carl asks as he pokes his older brother.

"Carl, let Lip eat." Fiona says as she grabs herself a beer.

"Well, can I at least eat what's left in the pot?" Carl asks.

"That's for Mickey," Debbie replies.

"Where is Mickey?" Carl asks.

"Visiting hours were over an hour ago and it's not midnight yet, so I'm guessing he's probably at the Alibi." Fiona says.

"Maybe we should start charging him for room and board," Debbie asks.

"Do you really want to bring that up?" Fiona asks as she makes Mickey's plate.

Lip is about to comment when he hears a knock at the front door. Beer in hand, Lip makes his way to the door as whoever is on the other side knocks again. "Hold on, coming!"

When Lip opens the door, his jaw drops. Standing in front of him bouncing on the balls of his feet is his uncle. "Hey," Clayton greets.

"Hi," Lip says. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah, well I had to talk to my wife. Didn't really go over too well."

Lip nods. He remembers his aunt's rude behavior vividly.

"Anyway, I'm here because I want to be. She's not going to change that. And I also talked to my son, he wants to get to know Ian and you guys," Clayton says as he looks to the person who has been standing silently behind him. "Come on, Jacob. Meet your cousin, Lip."

When the kid steps off to the side so Lip can finally see him, Lip is speechless. He feels like he's in a time warp. He's looking at a fourteen year old version of Ian, complete with that too long hair he sported a ways back. The only difference is the kid before him is a little shorter than Ian was at that age and has some more freckles.

"Hey," Ian's mini me says shyly.

"Hey, man. Nice to meet you." Lip says holding out his hand.

Jacob shakes his hand and Lip can't help but smile when he sees that his cousin sports hand freckles just like Ian.

"Lip! Who's at the door?" Fiona calls out from the kitchen.

Lip moves to the side to let his uncle and cousin into the house.

"Who's there?" Fiona says as she moves into the doorway of the living room and spots the visitors for the first time. "What the?"

"Holy fuck!" Carl says. "When Ian was in the coma did his body split into an older version and younger version?"

"Shut up, idiot." Debbie hisses.

"Lip? What's going on?" Fiona asks.

"Eean!" Liam reaches to the two redheads from his position on Debbie's hip.

"Guys, this is our Uncle Clayton and Cousin Jacob," Lip introduces. "Also known as Ian's father and brother."

"Hey, guys." Clayton says with a shy wave.

"This is Fiona, Carl, Debbie, and Liam." Lip says as he introduces his siblings.

Fiona moves closer to Lip and whispers. "Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean how is Ian going to take this."

Lip shrugs. "If it doesn't work so be it. We at least have to give it a shot. He has to be better than Frank. Ian deserve it."

"Hey, Jacob." Carl calls.

"Yeah?' The redhead answers cautiously.

"Do you do ROTC like Ian did?"

"Ian did ROTC?" Jacob asks.

Carl smiles. "Yeah, man! He got a bunch of promotions because of his sniper skills."

"Marksmen," Debbie corrects.

"Whatever," Carl says before he turns back to his cousin. "Well, do you?"

"Sorry, but I don't"

"Damn, I was hoping you could teach me some stuff until Ian gets out of the hospital."

"I don't do ROTC, but I do play hockey." Jacob says.

Carl nods approvingly. "Have you ever knocked anyone's teeth out?"

"Obviously. Also busted some kid's sternum," Jacob says proudly.

"Not his proudest moment," Clayton says.

"The asshole deserved it," Jacob defends himself.

"So is it just you, Jacob I mean do you have any brothers or sisters?" Debbie asks to diffuse the situation.

Jacob shakes his head. "Nope, just me. All you guys are siblings?" he asks, looking at Liam curiously.

"Looks like that rumor about Nana Gallagher was true," Clayton says as he smiles kindly at the littlest Gallagher. "And all of you guys live here?"

"Yep, and Mickey too." Debbie says.

"Who's Mickey?" Clayton asks.

"He's-"Carl stops but Lip cuts him off.

"He's a friend of the family," Lip says ignoring the confused looks of his siblings. He didn't tell Clayton that Ian was gay. It's Ian's business who he tells.

Clayton nods his head.

"Hey, you wanna play some Xbox?" Carl asks Jacob.

"Sure. What games do you got?" Jacob asks as he takes a seat on the couch.

"Grand Theft Auto?"

"Awesome."

With the kids settled in front of the television, Fiona, Lip, and Clayton go into the kitchen.

"So how are we going to do this?" Fiona asks as she takes a seat at the kitchen table. "I mean we don't want to sucker punch Ian. He has enough on his plate already."

"I guess we should probably talk to his doctors first," Lip says.

"I can come with you guys to see the doctor. I mean I would like to know more about Ian's prognosis and recovery. See how I can help," Clayton says.

"Think that would be good," Fiona says.

"Hey, um can I have a drink?" Jacob asks sheepishly as he enters the kitchen.

"Sure, kiddo." Fiona says as she stands up. "Sorry, about Carl and Debbie. We're still working on the manners. Water, juice, or soda?" Fiona asks as she grabs a cup from the dish drainer.

"Soda, please."

The sound of the back door opening causes Fiona to look away from her new found cousin to see her neighbor.

"Hey, Vee."She greets.

"Holy fuck!" Vee says looking back and forth between Clayton and Jacob.

**I hope you guys liked this. I find it interesting that Ian does have a father and a family that he doesn't even know. I love stories where we get to meet Ian's brother, so I decided to include Jacob and Clayton in mine too. My next idea is to have a chapter where Mickey and Mandy meet Jacob.**


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